Tips for Finding Cheap Airline Tickets

Everyone wants a deal, but finding cheap airline tickets is getting tougher.

The Economist's Gulliver has said buying tickets for mid-week departures can save a bundle, but you should also note that buying them on a Tuesday will further save you money. Airlines often push their cheap tickets sales on a Monday, so getting down to business on a Tuesday is the secret to cheap airline tickets.
"This year's different than any other year," said Sarah Rosenberger, a travel consultant with Central Travel. She says ticket prices are, on average, up $50 each and now fluctuate seemingly without rhyme or reason.
It can change in a day, it can change in an hour - it's all over the place.
Rosenberger says being flexible with your travel dates is key to getting a good deal. She also recommends traveling mid-week - Tuesday or Wednesday - to save money.

Those days are "not only less expensive, but they tend to have better availability.  So, if you can avoid the weekends, that's your best bet."
Using a websites fare tracker tools or fare charts that graph historical prices may help. Also, Bing Travel predicts whether or not it's a good time to buy.

With the Orbitz Deal Detector, you can receive alerts if the price of a specific trip dips below a level you set. Also, Farecompare, Kayak and Airfarewatchdog may be good places to start when looking for cheap flights.
Take the time to get quotes from several travel websites, as one might offer a lower fare. It might also be worth your time to visit a few of the airline websites directly to see if they are running any web-only specials. Some smaller or budget airlines won't appear on the major discount airfare sights, so checking in with the airline directly is necessary.
If you notice that your fare drops within 24 hours, many airlines and travel websites will refund you the difference. Do your homework ahead of time to figure out who will offer this protection on your purchase. Make sure to monitor the fares after your purchase as well so that you can take advantage of any potential fare drop.

job interview questions and the answer

Tell me about yourself? What are your strengths and weaknesses? Where do you see yourself in five years time?
In the decade I have been writing about employment these would have to be the top three most detested questions.
There are some fabulous one-off hated questions. One woman wrote to me after a weird question from a potential boss. “He wanted to know how I would react to him banging his fists down on the desk – and did just that to demonstrate.” It shouldn’t be an issue because the answer is not to take the job if it is offered.
Another woman in her early 30s told me she was interviewing in front on a panel for a role in an elite team within one of the top banks. “This guy asked me if I had any plans to get married and have children one day. The HR manager was sitting next to him and nearly fell off her chair.”
So how do you answer questions you hate?
Well, I am a huge believer in rehearsing for an interview – at least three times.  Interview with a friend, a family member, into a mirror or in front of the dog. This helps you get your thoughts clear and connect details of your work history to the key attributes needed to succeed in the job you are chasing. It also really helps to relax you. Get your interview partner to give you feedback on your eye contact, body language, ummms and errs and brevity and relevance of your answers. Also, be genuine. Making stuff up some brings you undone if you get a bunch of follow up questions.
Tell me about yourself?
Answer in no more than a few sentences. Combine a little of the personal with the professional. For example, if going for a call centre job. “I’ was born and grew up in this city, I’m a mad keen gamer and I love to solve problems, which is the reason I was attracted to this role.” Align your answer to the skills and attributes needed for the job.
What are your strengths/Weaknesses?
Again, align your strengths to the job you are going for. With weaknesses, don’t be too cute. People think it is a laugh to say: “chocolate” or “shoes”. If that pops out of your mouth quickly follow up with a real answer. Personally I hate the word “weakness” and use “challenge” but do what comes naturally to you. The key is to pick a “weakness” you are trying to do something about.
Good example, “Like a lot of people I get nervous speaking in front of a crowd but have enrolled in a [beginner’s acting course, public speaking course, Toastmasters] to tackle it.”
Don’t pick a weakness that would be a deal breaker for the job.  For example, “impatience” when interviewing for a receptionist role in a doctor’s office.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
This is my all time most hated question.
The interviewer wants to know how you see yourself developing in their organisation. As the words “skills shortage” are used more frequently in the media and HR circles, employers will be using this question to see if people plan to stay. Replacing people costs money and takes a lot of time.
If you go too big then you could be seen as deluded but showing no ambition can be just as bad. Big advice here is not to use the clichéd answer: “In your job.” I have heard from many managers how much they hate that answer. The common complaint is it sounds arrogant but who knows? Maybe they took the candidate seriously and didn’t like their ambition.
If you have real plans to gain a qualification then throw that in and think through a path of progression.
Also, some plans are better kept to yourself. If your real ambition is to work for yourself or traveling the world as a bar tender come ski instructor then don’t share it.
What are your best and worse answers to these questions? Have you had any other pesky questions at an interview?

Travel map of Europe

Travelling through Europe is one of life's great pleasures. The tourist industry is one of the oldest in the world. It can be measured in millennia not just centuries or years and why wouldn.t it be? It has some of the most scenic terrain in the world. The length of time that civilisation has been established here can only be matched China. So not only does Europe have its natural beauty but also has some long and well established heritage. Being so well established, Europe caters for every type of traveller. Group bookings or loan explorer.

That means there is something for every holiday maker. Europe is made up of over 20 countries. If diversity of culture is what you expect when you travel, Europe has it. If you are looking for lazy summer beaches, Croatia, Greece, Spain and France being some of the hot spots for summer tourism. If you are looking for some of the best skiing in the world, then Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France and Slovenia are just few of the countries that offer this type holiday. If you are looking for heritage and culture, Then you will have to consider Italy, with Pompeii being a Mecca for those that have a love for ancient history and as an added bonus you can visit visuvius and marvel and the volcanic landscapes. Interested in bushwalking, natural scenery, green and leafy forests? Then the aboreal forest of northern Europe and the Rocky crags of the Alps and parts of Scotland are where you want to fly to. Take advantage of the cheap flights that are now on offer and get out there and visit Europe.
A good map of Europe is a must when travelling. A good old fashioned map will not run out of batteries like a gps unit will and people are not as likely to steal it. So always carry a map as a backup to your phone or personal gps.

Travel Insurance is a must!

When travelling, even somewhere as relatively safe as Western Europe it is always advisable to get travel insurance. It does not cost a lot really and how much are you willing to pay for a happy holiday and peace of mind? Travelling is something that should be enjoyed and leave you with only good memories. However unforseen things do happen and it is always good to be prepared with travel insurance Europe.
Lets learn something! Europe is the planets second smallest continet by surface area, spanning approximately 10,180,000 square kilometres or about 3,930,000 square miles. Europe takes up about 2% of the worlds surface. This continent is the worlds third most populous, with a population of about 731 million people, about 11% of the world's total population.
The oceans and seas that border it are as follows. The Barents Sea, Arctic Ocean and Norwegian Sea are to the north. The North Sea and Baltic Sea's are more or less in the middle of the map. The Atlantic Ocean and the Greenland and Celtic Sea's are off to the west of the continent. The Mediterranean, Adriatic and Aegean Sea's lie to the south. The Black and Caspian Sea's lie more or less to the east.
Other naturally ocurring borders are Ural Mountains and the ural River and the Caucus Region (a group of countries, the best known of which are Armenia and Georgia). When planning a vacation to Europe, try and make sure you see as many of those wonderful natural features as possible. Holidaying around Europe is Easy. The tourism in most European countries has been when established for many years. Certain countries like Croatia and Greece rely on tourism to earn a large part of their GDP.

Some Political information about Europe

There are about 50 countries that make up the continent of Europe. The largest being Russia and the smallest being Vatican City. Most countries in Europe belong to the European Union and use the Euro as currency. Click on the links below to learn more about each country.

Other physical features of the continent of Europe

The main rivers are the Danube, Rhine, Volga, Seine, Ural and Loire. The longest being the Danube . The main mountain range's are The Alps, Pyrenees,Ural, Caucus and the Carpathian mountains. The highest mountain in Europe is situated in Russia and is called Mt Elbrus, it is 5642 meters high although the highest in Western Europe is Mt Blanc which is situated in France.
Rail Europe railways criss cross the continent as well as other forms of infrastructure such as Major Highways, Gas pipelines and High Tension Electrical Cables.

Rumor: Amazon has an “entire family” of Android devices coming this holiday

Amazon’s Android tablet is both the best and worst kept secret in the mobile industry. Everyone knows that Amazon is working on an Android device, but few know any of the specific details about its hardware or software. I recently took a break from blogging, but I had to come out of retirement for this post because it’s the most interesting Android topic that still remains a mystery. Read on after the jump to see what details I have dug up.

The Rumor

Amazon has an “entire family” of Android devices that will launch this holiday shopping season.

The Source

This tip came from an industry insider with direct knowledge of the project. The information was shared with me in a recent face-to-face meeting and I believe the source to be trustworthy. It was also confirmed by a separate source who has provided reliable information in the past. As with most of my tipsters, they wish to remain anonymous.

One Android Insider’s take on the rumor

I love writing these types of reports because there is always some truth behind the original rumor and additional details normally leak out after a post like this. People send a million rumors my way every week, so I only bust out the keyboard when I have information that I think deserves to be shared.
Rumors of Amazon expanding their hardware lineup beyond the Kindle e-reader go way back to last year. The New York Times first reported that Amazon’s research and development group, Lab126, had posted a flurry of job listings related to electronics hardware. That hiring spree has continued, as there are now around 180 job openings.
Then last September, MG Siegler of TechCrunch posted an interesting tip that Amazon was working on an iPad competitor. I agreed that it was obvious Amazon was working on an Android device when their app store was confirmed, but no new hardware details appeared for the next several months.
Things finally picked up again three weeks ago when Peter Rojas of gdgt said he was 99% sure that Samsung was building Amazon’s tablet. That rumor was quickly challenged when Digitimes said that several component makers reported Amazon has chosen Quanta Computers (the largest manufacturer of notebook computers in the world) to produce their Android tablet.
Now most recently, I was told with a smile that there is not one tablet, but an entire family of devices in the pipeline. This surprised me at first, but Amazon is placing a huge bet on Android so it makes sense for them to launch several types of devices and see what gets the best reception.
So what kind of devices are we talking about?
I couldn’t get any details out of my source about which specific devices will launch first, but I’m speculating there will be several sizes of tablets and at least one smartphone.
Most of the Android apps in Amazon’s app store are designed for the normal smartphone screen size, so it makes sense they would bring to market a device with a 4 inch display. Their Kindle e-reader currently ships in 6 and 9.7 inch versions and I believe that would be the target size for any tablets.
There hasn’t been much talk about it, but I also believe Amazon might explore a set top box running Google TV.
How much will these things cost?
Current prices of the Kindle are $114 for a 6 inch with WiFi (some sponsored ads), $189 for a 6 inch with 3G, and $379 for a 9.7 inch with 3G.
Barnes & Noble has proven with their Nook Color that the sweet spot for a color tablet is around $249. Amazon could definitely match that $249 price point with a 6 inch color tablet, depending on what hardware components they choose. I would hope to see a 9.7 inch color tablet at $399 and a 4 inch phone for under $199.
Amazon truly has the power to hit whatever price point they want. They could subsidize part of the cost with advertising like the recent Kindle offer or just decide to take a loss on the devices. History has shown that the component prices will come down when the production ramps up and Amazon can afford to take a loss in the short term when they know they can make their money back by selling apps, books, movies, music, and more.
Who will supply the mobile data?
Just like the Amazon Kindle, I suspect we will see some Android devices with only WiFi and others with 3G/4G connectivity. Amazon has a history of working with both AT&T and Verizon, so either of those carriers could be potential partners.
The mobile data model you are most likely to see is a limited amount of free 3G/4G data, with the option to purchase additional data each month. Verizon worked a similar deal with Google to allow 100 MB of free data each month on their CR-48 Chromebook, so hopefully Amazon can do something similar.
What kind of display can we expect?
Digitimes reported that Amazon would use a Fringe Field Switching LCD display and touch panel from E Ink Holdings, but Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos recently told Consumer Reports that color e-ink “is not ready for prime time…the colors are very pale.” He went on to say, “it makes a lot of sense for there to be a low-power, reflective color display. I think that’s something you could build a fantastic product around.”
When I checked around with my inside sources, I was told that Amazon would be using a Pixel Qi display like we saw in the Notion Ink Adam. It is possible that Amazon is evaluating multiple display technologies and has not decided on a final winner yet.
My gut tells me that Qualcomm’s Mirasol displays could be at the top of the list. These reflective displays do not require a backlight and offer a significant reduction in power consumption. I did not think they would be ready in time for Amazon’s tablet launch, but Qualcomm has been demoing their new front-light technology and claims they will be ready in the fall.
Whatever display type they go with, I expect Amazon will choose something ultra low power to differentiate their devices from the competition. The LCD displays of smartphones and tablets are normally the biggest source of power drain and one of these newer displays could greatly enhance the battery life.
Who will supply the CPU?
I know I’m a processor nerd, but I don’t really think it matters which CPU Amazon chooses to go with at this point. It will likely be an ARM-based dual-core CPU, which means it could be supplied by anyone.
My head tells me that Qualcomm’s Snapdragon might be the best fit since they could offer Amazon a sweetheart deal and price out the competition. NVIDIA could also be in the running with their quad-core Kal-El processor, which is expected to be available around Q3.
However, going back to my gut feeling I think Texas Instruments could be the big winner here. There OMAP3 powered the Nook Color and their new dual-core 1.5 GHz OMAP4 will be ready in the second half of 2011.
What will the software experience be like?
My sources tell me that Amazon has outsourced their software services to an embedded systems company that has experience with Android devices. Some had speculated that Amazon might use Android 2.3 Gingerbread so they could heavily customize the user interface, but I was told that Amazon will certainly use the latest version of Android.
Google has chosen not to release the source code for Android 3.0 Honeycomb until sometime in Q4 when Ice Cream Sandwich becomes available. I was given the impression that Google is actually working with Amazon on these devices, so it is possible that Amazon could ship their products in Q4 with Ice Cream Sandwich.
Andy Rubin told the press doing a Google I/O Q&A session that Android was meant to be customized and Google would not lock down the UI, so expect a heavily modified user experience on Amazon’s devices.

But would you actually buy one?

I’ve been a long-time Amazon Prime member, so I would definitely be interested in any Android device that Amazon might release. My phone of choice will likely remain a Google-designed Nexus product, but when it comes to tablets I would hand my money over to Amazon if they provided the best overall experience.
We tossed this idea around amongst the other staffers and here is what some had to say:

• Edgar Cervantes: “I would not be very inclined to buy an Amazon phone… It seems like Amazon’s plan would be to separate itself from Google [and] Google’s services are very important to me. On the other hand, I think an Amazon tablet would be a better idea. Amazon is pretty much my favorite e-Reader provider, so if said tablet was optimized for Kindle, I would be more likely to consider it.”
• Keivan Askari: “I think it would be an interesting device, and if they did a pilot program like the Google CR-48, it would be a great way to test the waters as well as build hype about the phone. I’m confident they could offer free data up to 100mb like the CR-48.”
• Sean Riley: “I doubt that I would consider any of the products from Amazon, but these are bound to be targeted at the general consumer rather than Android enthusiasts. As consumption devices Amazon can certainly put together an incredible competitor with the ecosystem they have strung together in the last few months. The pricing should be their biggest advantage and considering the projections that the Kindle may go completely free for Prime subscribers by this Fall I think a $150-200 7″ tablet isn’t out of the question with the 10″ model running more like $250-300. I find the phone harder to believe, although certainly possible, but I can certainly imagine their going with a 4″ iPod Touch competitor at $99.”

What would it take to convince you to buy an Amazon smartphone or tablet?

French GP for Stoner !

Sat, 14 May 14:05:00 2011
Casey Stoner took his third pole position of the season as the Australian dominated qualifying for the French MotoGP at Le Mans.

The factory HRC Honda rider, who set the pace throughout practice, put on a similar display during the qualifying hour to eclipse the opposition with the fastest lap of the weekend.
Team-mate Dani Pedrosa briefly took the top spot 10 minutes into the session, but Stoner was having none of that, and quickly responded with a 1m33.401s.
That lap remained the mark until the last 10 minutes when the field started filing their qualifying efforts. That's also when the 2007 world champion turned up the wick, first with a 1m33.2, and then finally a 1m33.153s.
In the end, Stoner's closest challenger was Gresini's wunderkind Marco Simoncelli, who pulled out a rapid 1m33.212s - the closest anyone's got to Stoner all weekend.
Andrea Dovizioso completed the front row, out-qualifying Pedrosa - who starts the grand prix off the front row for the first this year.
World champion Jorge Lorenzo could only manage fifth fastest and first non-Honda rider on a track that once was a Yamaha stomping ground - the Spaniard more than half a second away from pole.
Next to him on the grid is British MotoGP rookie Cal Crutchlow who gave French team Tech 3 something to cheer about on home ground in sixth, beating team-mate Colin Edwards to the second row of the grid by nearly three tenths.
Ben Spies lines up eighth on the second factory Yamaha while the factory Ducatis of Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden completed the top ten.
Alvaro Bautista was a commendable 12th on the lone Suzuki as the he continues his rehabilitation from a broken leg.
There were two accidents during the session, first for Randy de Puniet at Turn 12 on cold tyres early in the session, then Toni Elias who fell dramatically at Turn 8 without injury.
AUTOSPORT.com / Eurosport

Islamist website says U.S. tape on bin Laden fake

Agence France-Presse
 
DUBAI — An Islamist website has accused the United States of releasing a fake tape of an aging Osama bin Laden watching images of himself on television, and posted a video on YouTube it says offers proof.
Shoumoukh al-Islam, the main website that broadcasts al-Qaida videos, posted a video comparing an earlier picture of bin Laden and the aired picture.
It said the video was a "response to the tape aired by Arab and foreign media on Osama bin Laden watching himself" on television.
"Caution, caution from America the liar," read a caption on the almost 10-minute-long video with pictures showing the differences between the ear and eyes of the bin Laden in the early photo and those of the older bin Laden.
The video was posted on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0aiBXTPTkE.
U.S. officials have released five videos of bin Laden seized in the raid that killed him, including an extraordinary one in which the al-Qaida chief is seen holding a remote and sitting huddled under a blanket, watching images of himself on television in a spare-looking room.
In that video, bin Laden has a grey beard, but in other videos that were apparently meant for distribution as propaganda his beard appears to have been dyed black.
More than 20 U.S. Navy SEALs swooped on bin Laden's hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and shot him dead in a May 2 raid.

Encyclopedia of Islam launched in Dammam

A TWO-VOLUME compendium on Islam entitles “An Educational Encyclopedia of Islam”, edited by Syed Iqbal Zaheer, was launched in the Eastern Province in a gathering at the Marhaba hotel, Thursday. Syed Iqbal Zaheer is an Islamic scholar hailing from Bangaluru, India and working as an Engineer in Dhahran.

Speaking at the occasion, Iqbal Zaheer said that the encyclopedia is a result of his efforts over the past 20 years. “This encyclopedia is a reference work that provides the optimum in content quantity and quality,” he explained. “It is a work (focusing) on Islamic culture, religion, history, politics, and other facets of life, in a very simple language. The entries of this encyclopedia are arranged alphabetically and range from brief essays to major analyses of topics such as Hadiths, pilgrimage, law, and family structure. It has two very convincing articles on the Divinity as well as a thorough article in defense of Hadiths.”

Apart from the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the earliest Muslims, the encyclopedia also explores - in sufficient depth - the lives of prominent figures from modern Islamic history like Jamaluddin Al-Afghani, Muhammad Iqbal, Syed Abul A'la Mawdudi, Maulana Muhammad Ilyas and Hassan Al-Banna.

Several entries are well-supported with excellent illustrations and maps that supplement the data wonderfully. This is especially evident in the interesting accounts of the life and achievements of the great Traditionalists (Muhadditheen) of Islam like Imam Bukhari, Imam Muslim, Imam Abu Dawood, and Imam Tirmidhi as well as the founders of the four schools of Islamic jurisprudence: Imam Abu Hanifah, Imam Shafi', Imam Malik bin Anas and Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal.

An encyclopedia dedicated to the institutions, religion, politics, and culture of Muslim societies throughout the world, “An Educational Encyclopedia of Islam” places particular emphasis on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, containing over a thousand articles in two volumes on Islam, Muslims and Muslim culture in the Arab mainland, South and Southeast Asia and Europe.

Another feature of the book is the use of some four dozen full-scale and unique multi-color maps painstakingly developed, complete with three-dimensional topographical features. Every one of these maps - whether of the Prophet's (pbuh) Hijrah route from Makkah to Madinah or of the famous Battle of Yarmuk or of the journeys of the great Muhadditheen - attracts the reader's attention for a long time. Depicted with the right kind of details, these maps are a valuable possession, not to mention the excellent teaching tool that they represent for the young and old, especially among school and college teachers.

The tome perfectly suits the new Muslim, or those Muslims who have been brought up in a Western environment, are quite uncomfortable in their native language and hence, unsure of Islamic concepts. It is priced at SR500 within the Kingdom, $130 for the Gulf countries and $150 for the United States and other countries.

The encyclopedia is available at Dar Abul Qassim Publications in Jeddah and Dar Al Hadyan in Riyadh. It is also available by Al-Attique publications in Canada (Jacob Sardini Co.), Sharjah and Bangaluru, India (East West Educational Tools|).

Syed Iqbal Zaheer is also the author of several famous books like “Islam: The Religion You Can No Longer Ignore”, “Fake Pearls: A Collection of Fabricated Prophetic Sayings”, and A Short History of Israel”, among others. The Encyclopedia weighs around seven kilograms and has a total of 1,300 pages in two volumes.

Dr E.K. Muhammed Shaffe, the Principal of IISD; Syed Rashid Al-Azzaz, a senior journalist and Irfan Iqbal Khan, Chief Editor of Saudi Commerce and Economic Review of Assharqia Chamber, gave speeches at the event. Rizwan Ahmed was the moderator of the event.

Prince of his disorder T.E. Lawrence was complicated, contradictory and controversial

Prince of his disorder

T.E. Lawrence was complicated, contradictory and controversial

Apr 28th 2011 | from the print edition

• Tweet
• 
  

Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia. By Michael Korda. Harper; 762 pages; $36. JR Books; £25. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk
LAWRENCE OF ARABIA is a modern myth. The subject of more than 100 books, several of them full-length biographies, Lawrence is best remembered from David Lean’s 1962 epic film, which did much to burnish his heroic reputation, albeit at the expense of strict historical accuracy. T.E. Lawrence was, and remains, a controversial, contradictory character, both warlike and scholarly, vain and modest, part showman, part hermit; he was ambitious yet racked with self-doubt and guilt. Michael Korda’s magnificent new biography examines anew the man Jan Morris has called a “confused and enigmatic exhibitionist”.
Mr Korda blows away the preconceptions that cloud much of the existing literature on Lawrence. He tells the story of Lawrence’s early life, of his illegitimacy and his difficult relationship with his mother, without the flights of psychoanalytical speculation that have plagued some previous studies of the man.

The heart of the book is devoted to Lawrence’s role in the Arab revolt of 1916-18, the origin of his romantically heroic reputation. Mr Korda deals even-handedly with Lawrence’s role, demonstrating that, although he was not solely responsible for the revolt, his remarkable leadership, courage and physical endurance gave the campaign vital cohesion and impetus. Lawrence, an academic without formal military training, displayed an astonishing grasp of both regular and irregular military tactics. His campaign with the camel-mounted Bedouin tribesmen against the Turks was a masterful exposition of the principles of guerrilla warfare. The tribesmen attacked the enemy with small, highly mobile units, forcing it to defend itself along a huge front. Likewise, Lawrence became a master of the set-piece engagement—albeit on a small scale—as his victory over the Turkish army at Tafileh in January 1918 so amply demonstrated.
Once the war was over, Lawrence continued the struggle for an independent Arab state at the Versailles conference. His aspirations foundered on the rocks of British and French colonial ambition, notably the twin reefs of the notorious Sykes-Picot agreement of 1916 and the Balfour Declaration of 1917. Mr Korda argues that Lawrence was “partly responsible” for the formation of modern Iraq and Jordan and played a substantial role in “the creation of Palestine as a separate entity”. This salved his conscience for having encouraged the Arab revolt, but it is also his legacy to the present.
A central strand of the Lawrentian myth was his decision in 1922, at the height of his fame, to enlist under an assumed name as a lowly aircraftman in the Royal Air Force (RAF), where he remained almost until his death in a motorcycle accident in 1935. Lawrence’s reputation and apparently irresistible newsworthiness were a constant embarrassment to the RAF. At one point he was posted to India for two years to remove him from the limelight.
Mr Korda is especially good on this last phase of Lawrence’s life, when despite his desire for humdrum anonymity he was unable to bring himself wholly to sever the links with his former life. Thus he would arrive on his motorcycle at the grandest houses in the uniform of an RAF rank-and-filer and nurture his friendships with the powerful and famous, including Winston Churchill and George Bernard Shaw. The breadth of his friendships is testament to Lawrence’s compulsive, almost hypnotic allure. Mr Korda also deals interestingly with the convoluted genesis of Lawrence’s great book, “Seven Pillars of Wisdom”, which reveals much of its author’s contradictory, even contrary, motivations.
Mr Korda’s prose skips along through 700 pages but he cannot resist the biographer’s twitch of making pointless, speculative claims for his subject. Thus the reader is told that on a visit to Egypt in 1912 Lawrence “may be the only visitor to pass through Cairo without bothering to see the Pyramids”. Likewise, Mr Korda asserts that Lawrence “may have been the only person in 20th-century Britain who was just as much at ease with King George V as with a hut full of RAF recruits”. This apart, “Hero” is a wonderfully intelligent, sweeping and highly readable account of the life and achievements of one of Britain’s most glamorous yet complex and mysterious colonial buccaneers.

Why Is People Search So Lame? ........Various for-profit "information providers" dominate the results for people searches conducted on Google and other search engines. And the information they provide isn't always helpful.

Searching Google for John Q. Public in Alabama or Jane Q. Citizen in Massachusetts? Good luck. A proliferation of data brokers, people search engines, and social networks have made the task of finding a person's phone number and address via a Google search (or a search on any other major search engine) a minefield of less-than-useful links.
When you use Google to search for a name, why do data aggregator sites such as Intelius.com, MyLife.com (formerly Reunion.com), and Spokeo often appear at the top of the results page? Rather than save you a step and provide a person's name, address, and phone number--a Google White Pages, if you will--the world's biggest search provider directs to you a motley crew of third-party sites that typically offer the information for a price.
Try it yourself: Pick an obscure name from your past--a former flame, friend, or foe--and enter it in Google Search. Assuming that your quarry isn't famous and doesn't share a name with someone famous, the links you're likely to see at the top of the results page will go to people-search services such as Intelius, MyLife.com, Pipl, PeopleSmart.com, Radaris.com, and Spokeo, as well as to social-networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn. (I tried this myself by entering my deceased mother's name: Three of the first three matches were to MyLife; the fourth was to Pipl. My mom, who never owned a computer, died three years ago.)
Facebook's high placement in Google's results is understandable, given the immense popularity of the world's largest social network: It boasts more than 500 million active users. But why do lesser-known people-search sites consistently appear at the top of the page? Many such sites are legitimate services that offer information in exchange for a subscription or a one-time fee; nevertheless, numerous customers, consumer advocates, and government agencies have expressed dissatisfaction with the business practices of some of these outfits.
"If you look at the success rate of [people] searches, they're really low," says Stefan Weitz, director of Microsoft's Bing search engine. "It's well under 25 percent. It's one of the highest dissatisfaction queries we see." People queries account for about 4 percent of all searches on Bing.

Gaming Google?

Why do these people-search sites tend to rank so high in Google's search results?
We asked Google this question, but the search giant declined our request for an interview. Instead, a company spokesperson provided this statement: "Site quality is one of more than 200 signals we consider when ranking webpages, and we're constantly tuning search to provide the most relevant answers. We don't generally comment on how specific sites rank in our search results or on future product plans."
With Google dominating the U.S. search market with a two-thirds share, according to ComScore, wondering why it's so weak at people search is only natural. Unfortunately, Google's secrecy makes determining why certain sites like MyLife.com often rise to the top of name-search results nearly impossible for outsiders.
"Obviously Google keeps changing their algorithms, and how they calculate page rankings," says IDC search analyst Hadley Reynolds, who believes it's "a little fishy" when the same data-aggregators appear in the top three and four responses all the time. But MyLife and its ilk have obviously made a science of remaining at the top of people-search results.

Yahoo More Accurate

Unlike Google, Yahoo provides a separate query tool for people searches. The aptly named Yahoo People Search supplies a form with separate boxes for first name, last name, city, and state. It performs reverse phone number and e-mail address searches, too.
"By having people go to the people-search [page], Yahoo already knows the intent of the user is to find a person," says Reynolds. It then can "gather the right kind of data through the use of a form, and all of the responses coming back are going to be people, not miscellaneous documents and other services."
For millions of Internet users, social networks like Facebook are the real people-search engines. "I think the answer to the problem of people search, at the moment anyway, is that you use social networks to find people, or find out things about people," says Reynolds.
And while other social sites, including LinkedIn, MySpace, and Twitter, are effective for tracking down personal and business contacts, Facebook's sheer size makes it the logical first stop.
Bing says that its integration with Facebook, which launched in October 2010, gives it an edge in people-search effectiveness over Google. In particular, a feature called Facebook Profile Results is designed to help Bing users find the right person faster by listing their Facebook friends--or friends of their Facebook friends--atop a name-search results page.
"We're trying to leverage the trusted network that people have built on Facebook," says Bing's Weitz. "Leverage it to help you find a person you may have met at a party or seen at a business meeting--but forgot their contact information."

Helpful Hints for Better People Searches

Want to find the right person every time? Try these eight tips.
1. Put double quotation marks around the person's given name and surname--for example, "John Smith"--in the search query field. A search employing this Boolean syntax treats all of the words (and spaces) inside the quotation marks as a continuous string, and retrieves only documents that contain that exact phrase. It's the best way to weed out irrelevant results.
2. Still not finding the right person? Add a middle initial: "John L Smith." If you're searching for someone with a very common name, including the middle initial is a big plus--if you know what it is.
3. Use Yahoo People Search. Unlike Bing and Google, Yahoo has a separate people search form on its site. Fill in the first name, the last name, and a location (if you know one).
4. Bing plus Facebook means better name searches. Facebook has more than 500 million active users; and if you're one of them, Bing can use the social network to help you find people who may already be linked to your Facebook friends. To use this feature, you'll have to log into Facebook before running your search on Bing. Search for "John L Smith," for instance, and if Mr. Smith and you have mutual Facebook friends, Bing will say so at the top of the results page.
5. Don't forget LinkedIn, MySpace, and Twitter. Because social networks are so popular, people post huge amounts of data--comments, photos, and résumés--on these sites. In fact, today, using social networks may be the best way to find someone.
6. Basic information is often free at people-search sites, even at sites that charge for in-depth information. WhitePages.com, for instance, is handy for finding a person's address and/or phone number.
7. Use a major search engine for reverse phone number lookups. Simply type the 10-digit number in the search window and see what comes up. Bing and Yahoo People Search are better at this than Google is.
8. Not finding the person you want? Try Argali, a research tool for Windows that searches multiple telephone directories. The free version limits you to 10 searches per month; the $30 Pro edition allows unlimited searches and runs on networks, too.

Smooth Operators?

Consumer watchdog sites such as Ripoff Report and Complaints Board are rife with gripes from users of Bellevue, Washington-based Intelius, whose services include people searches, background checks, employment screening, and identity-theft protection. Intelius says that 30 million unique users visit its sites each month.
Hundreds of comments from Intelius customers on Complaints Board, and a few dozen on Ripoff Report, gripe about the company's billing practices. (To be fair, many of the 1600-plus Intelius-related comments on Complaints Board are from the company's customer support representatives, responding to the gripes.)
"I have been trying to cancel with Intelius since last Friday 4/22/11 and have been unable to do so," wrote Complaints Board user Donna Malanaphy on April 25, 2011: "They are telling me in order to cancel I need to pay a fee of $49.95 which is absurd! You should not have to pay to have a trial period cancelled."
Intelius's same-day response to Malanaphy, a 58-year-old woman from East Brunswick, New Jersey, stated that the company doesn't charge a cancellation fee. It added that she may have inadvertently "accepted the People Search offer that is advertised on the Intelius website."
If true, her confusion is understandable. Intelius sells an array of reports at different prices, but customers must read the fine print carefully. The 95-cent "special price" offer for the People Search Report, for instance, also activates a 7-day free trial subscription to Intelius's Identity Protect service. Once the brief trial period ends, the company bills the customer a recurring fee of $19.95 per month.
The Better Business Bureau has received more than 1600 complaints about Intelius in the past three years, though the company has responded every time, says BBB community outreach manager Sheila Adkins. The complaints involve various issues, including Intelius's advertising, service, warranty, sales, and billing practices.
"The company has worked with the BBB to improve their language, so the BBB is aware of their issues and the problems they've had with their website not being clear, not being transparent with their terms," says Adkins. Intelius currently has a grade of B (on a scale of A+ to F) from the BBB.
In August 2010, the Washington state attorney general's office entered into a consent decree with Intelius, in accordance with which the company agreed to stop displaying offers for free-to-pay memberships without "clearly and conspicuously" stating the true terms--including the cost and billing frequency--of the program. The decree, which also applies to Intelius's partner sites, further requires Intelius to give consumers a convenient way to cancel their membership, including a toll-free number and an e-mail address, or some other "easily accessible online method."
Spokeo, another people-search provider, has come under fire from privacy advocates. In June 2010, the nonprofit watchdog group Center for Democracy and Technology filed a complaint against Spokeo with the Federal Trade Commission. The CDT asked the FTC to investigate Spokeo, which it says offers "highly personal information" about millions of Americans, including information about their religious affiliations, ethnic backgrounds, shopping and recreational habits, relatives, roommates, and credit worthiness.
"In fact, Spokeo does not provide much of the data it promises, and other conclusions and facts on the site about consumers are often extremely inaccurate," the CDT complaint claims. "The site does offer 'Credit Estimate' and 'Wealth Level' ratings to paid subscribers, though it does not disclose how and on what information those assessments are based."
Spokeo calls the CDT complaint an "unfortunate misrepresentation" of its products and practices. "We recognize that for some users it can be a startling experience to encounter a block of personalized information which they may otherwise be unaware exists--particularly when the information is of a type they may perceive as 'private,'” the company told PCWorld via e-mail. "It is important to understand, however, that Spokeo does not generate any data, nor is it the source. We simply aggregate public records already published across the Internet, many of which have been in existence for a very long time."
Intelius chose not to respond to e-mail requests for comment regarding this story.

Not All Bad

This isn't to say that all data-aggregators are shady, fly-by-night operators. "Not all of these people-search sites are bad, obviously," says Bing's Weitz.
"There's a lot of work that's been done by some of these sites, the collection of public data--whether it's property records, court records, or whatnot--in an attempt to assemble a picture of the person in real life," adds Weitz. "That's where the money is for those sites. They invest a lot in finding information that's public, and then clean it up."
Traffic has risen at some people-search sites over the past year, but it has fallen at others. According to research firm ComScore, the number of unique visitors to MyLife.com was 11.8 million in March 2011, a 28-percent increase over the same month a year earlier. Manta.com rose 114 percent to 19.3 million in the same period. Radaris was up 235 percent to 1.37 million; and Pipl was up 12 percent to 1.29 million. Intelius's number of unique visitors dropped by half to 6.8 million, however, and USSearch.com's visitors fell to 1.7 million. ComScore didn't have data on Spokeo at press time.

Los Angeles police move to stem violence in Venice Beach

LOS ANGELES ---- Police Sgt. Marc Reina checks the weather on his iPhone every morning to forecast what lies ahead on the job at Venice Beach.
"Eighty-two and sunny ---- I know it's going to be a long day," he says.
Police are gearing up for especially long days even before summer's unofficial Memorial Day start, as the sun and heat that draw throngs of tourists to one of the city's top destinations also attracts an unsavory element and unusual violence ---- a shooting and stabbing in recent weeks.
Fearing crime could spiral, police have started cracking down on the unruliness that typifies the boardwalk ---- a 1.5-mile ribbon of asphalt that runs along the sand where the Ringling Brothers-meets-Woodstock ambiance can draw 150,000 people on a summer weekend.
Patrol reinforcements are being summoned from other divisions, more undercover operatives are being assigned to infiltrate crowds, and detectives are gathering intelligence via social media.
Dozens of people have been arrested for smoking pot and drinking in public, minor transgressions but ones that set the tone of public order on the beach.
"People come here from all over the world and we want them to come," said police Capt. Jon Peters. "But clearly, in my mind, this has become a public safety issue. We're taking an aggressive enforcement posture."
Policing the funky neighborhood along a scenic stretch of sand and surf has always been a thorny task.
The beach and boardwalk have unique sets of labyrinthine regulations, plus an entrenched counterculture that takes pride in pushing the boundaries of law and order, including hurling beer bottles and heckling the cops.
Nevertheless, the LAPD division in the area has a waiting list of officers wanting to wear shorts on the job, zoom around the sand on ATVS and pound the pavement on Segway-type vehicles. It takes about six weeks for a new officer to learn the beach beat.
Along with Berettas and batons, police are armed with tape measures to check peddlers' adherence to city property lines, and noise meters to detect decibel violators.
Since the economy soured, officers have gotten a lot busier dealing with everything from more thefts and transients to complaints about noise and vendor disputes. The increase has come even as overall crime in Venice has trended downward during the past two years, following a citywide pattern.
The summer melange of hucksters hawking two-headed turtles; aging hippies living in garishly painted RVs; activists opposing circumcision; and camera-toting visitors has extended to year-round, driven by peddlers desperate for a buck and families seeking a cheap outing.
"People don't have the money to go to other hotspots so they're coming here," said Reina, deftly weaving a police SUV through a sandy slalom course of bikini-clad sunbathers and sand-digging kids. "This is free entertainment."
Police are particularly concerned about two outlaw groups that have made Venice a regular hangout.
Nomadic bands of youths who used to pass through Venice have taken up residence in alleyways, living off panhandling, theft and resale of medical marijuana from boardwalk dispensaries. South Los Angeles gang members are also increasingly coming on weekends, bringing their rivalries and weapons.
Residents have noticed a wave of burglaries, car break-ins, and auto and bicycle thefts in the past year.
"You see these punks working the alleys, trying to find open gates, open windows," said Mark Ryavec, president of the Venice Stakeholders Association, who lives blocks from the beach. "It's not your traditional homeless."
Police normally beef up Venice patrols in the summer, but last fall the 21 summer-duty positions were funded through the winter. Several gang members were arrested for home invasions, Peters said.
The boardwalk has also gotten more chaotic with new, first-come rules for vending spaces. The change has created an anything-goes flea market resulting in fisticuffs, threats and extortion among peddlers desperate for slots.
On top of that, vendors block emergency access zones, and unauthorized yard sales pop up that police can't shut down because no signs are posted with the rules.
"We can't do anything 'til the signs are up and they know it," Reina said, pointing to the sellers in illegal spaces. "The vending is out of control."
Things took a violent turn last month. A man was shot at the boardwalk basketball courts when rival gangs showed up at a "flash mob" gathering promoted by Twitter. The gunfire sparked pandemonium as people scattered for cover.
A week later, another man was stabbed at the beach drum circle, a regular jam session with hundreds of people rhythmically banging everything from bongos to buckets.
Some locals took the incidents as a harbinger of a rough summer to come, while others simply attributed it to a higher visitor turnout due to a spate of spring sunshine.
"They're isolated incidents but getting regular. It was the first real hot weekend," said Matt Dowd, a longtime boardwalk musician. "But the problems here stem back to a lack of attention to Venice's issues."
In the wake of the violence, officers have stepped up monitoring of Twitter, called in reinforcements one Sunday from the elite Metro division, and sought help from the major crimes task force.
On a recent Sunday after the stabbing, six undercover officers ---- up from the normal two or three ---- were sent to mingle in the drum circle, which can draw 600 to 800 cavorting people and has been a persistent headache through the years.
"The problem is we can't see what's going on in the crowd," Reina said. "We even had a sexual assault in there years ago."
Peters acknowledged arrests are only part of the solution.
He's bugging the city to clean up overflowing trash cans in a bid to instill a sense of order and is working to get access to residents' video surveillance cameras.
He's even looking at piping calming classical music into the so-called "pagodas" ---- shaded sitting areas where people congregate ---- as well as installing better lighting and cameras with speakers that would allow warnings to be issued remotely.
Still, highly visible uniformed officers ---- about 20 comprise a typical weekend detail ---- are the most powerful deterrent, the officers noted. "If I had my way, I'd have 200 officers down here," Reina said.

Problema Rante Kamprat part #2

Ada kalanya setelah ganti rante keteng dng yg baru tidak begitu menyelesaikan masalah, tidak brp lama tuh keteng bunyi lage, bisa 1 bulan atau 2 bulan. Padahal umur rante keteng kan tidak mungkin sesingkat itu ? mari kita cek mekanisme kerja baut penekan tensionernya (Lifter Assy, Tensioner - disingkat "LAT" saja biar mudah mengingat). Biasanya pada mesin yg berumur 5 taon ke atas hal ini kerap terjadi, bahkan untuk mesin-2 yg baru juga tidak menutup kemungkinan jika parts yg dimaksud mengalami perlakuan yg tidak semestinya, misal dng sengaja di tekan paksa dng kuat waktu membuka baut penyetelnya, dsb. Pegas didalamnya bisa meleset. Kalo sudah begini, meski rante keteng baru, awalnya akan bunyi "klek-klek-klek" pendek .... dan hilang lagi, setelah gas ditarik dan dilepas. Kalo sudah parah, rante keteng akan bunyi terus, tentunya akan berdampak seperti yg pernah dibahas sebelumnya.

Mari kita cek mekanisme kerja LAT sudah sempurna atau belum, siapkan:

1. Tang jepit buaya
2. Kunci ring 12 dan pas 10
3. Obeng minus kecil (tes pen)
4. Kunci L (ini yg punya gw rada selek)
5. Obeng plus/minus

Urutan kerja Pembongkaran:

1. Buka jok belakang, dan buka body kiri tengah (penutup air filter) dng obeng +.
2. Lepaskan Motor Starter (kalo bisa tanpa lepas karburator), dng kunci 10, tempatkan pada tempat yg aman/nyaman.
3. Menggunakan kunci L lepaskan LAT dari silinder mesin, kalo sulit, gunakan kunci ring 12 sebagai pengungkit kunci L. Lepaskan LAT, cek mekanisme kerjanya dengan memutar-2 setelan dng obeng minus kecil (lihat gambar).
4. Mari kita bongkar LAT.Lihat gambar di atas. Buka ring pengunci antara “a” dengan “e” menggunakan obeng minus kecil.
5. Anda akan mendapatkan uraian LAT seperti pada gambar di atas.
6. Yang sering terjadi adalah pengunci pegas bagian dalam (yg di “d”) meleset atau patah. Jika meleset, lepas saja semua sekalian, dan jika putus, tekuk ujung pegas untuk pengunci yg baru.
7. Uraikan semua bagian-2 LAT.
8. Untuk melepas pegas gunakan tang buaya untuk menarik pegas keluar melalui lubang pengunci luar (lihat gambar).

Kalau ujung masing-2 pegas sudah disiapkan bentuk penguncinya, siapkan untuk dipasang kembali:

Masukkan ujung pegas bagian dalem (part “e”) melalui lubang pengunci bagian luar, masukkan putaran pegas sesuai gambar (berlawanan arah jarum jam). Jepit ujung pegas bagian dalam dengan ujung “d” dan posisikan jepitan tersebut pada dudukan bagian dalam “e”. Tekan “d” pada “e” secara tegak lurus menggunakan jari, lalu masukkan ujung obeng minus kecil dari sisi balik “e”. Sambil ditekan, putar obeng searah jarum jam (dari arah obeng).

Rapikan posisi tumpukan pegas di dalam tabung “e” hingga rata menggunakan obeng minus. Lakukan perlahan dan pasti hingga posisi pegas pengunci bagian luar sempurna seperti pada gambar. Masih sambil ditekan coba mainkan putaran obeng minus sesuai arah pegas, untuk mencoba kekuatan pegas dan pengunci pada kedua ujungnya. Kalau posisi “d” dan “e” serta pegas dalam posisi sempurna, tekanan pake jari bisa secara perlahan dilepas. Masukkan “c”, “b” sesuai dng urutan dan posisi pad gambar. Bagian “a” dan “d” terhubung melalui drat, dan “a” akan terkunci dng posisi tertentu ke “e”. Sambil diputar yg “a” untuk memasukkan drat ke ujung “d” bagian luar, posisikan pengunci “a” ke dudukannya di “e”. Kalau posisi sudah sempurna, coba lagi maenkan putaran pegas dng obeng.

Jika obeng diputar searah jarum jam maka ujung LAT (“a”) justru akan masuk, dan jika obeng dilepas, otomatis krn terdorong pegas, ujung tersebut akan menonjol keluar. Jika sudah sempurna mekanismenya kunci “a” pada “e” menggunakan ring pengunci. Siap dipasang kembali.

Perlu diingat bahwa waktu menempatkan LAT pada silinder mesin anda harus memutar dulu setelannya untuk membuat ujung LAT agak masuk, baru LAT dibaut kuat ke tempatnya.

Problema di Rante Keteng part #1

"Tek .. tek ... tek" bunyi berkepanjangan yg ini bukan dari gerobak tukang mi rebus.

Tapi dari bunyi mesin di silinder sebelah kiri. Pada umumnya disebabkan oleh rante keteng/kamprat yg sudah terlalu panjang krn umur pake dan di luar kemampuan tensionernya. Sehingga rante yg panjangnya berlebih tsb membentur-2 mesin sehingga menimbulkan bunyi-2 tek-tek berkepanjangan. Tanda-2 awalnya sih hanya pada waktu mesin dingin dimana sirkulasi oli belum sempurna ke seluruh mesin, tapi lama kelamaan baik dingin atau panas akan membuat bunyi tsb muncul.

Jangka pendek kalo tidak segera diperhatikan adalah bagian dinding mesin sebelah dalem yg terkena benturan dng keteng akan "mbeset"/membekas. Krn fungsi keteng ini yg menggerakkan noken as dan buka tutup klep, yg berpengaruh pada pengapian mesin, sehingga akibat yg lebih jauh adalah mengganggu timing dari buka tutup klep dan berujung pada performance mesin. Akibat extremenya adalah krn timing pengapian berubah, dinding atas piston bisa membentur pada klep, untuk kasus ini rasanya belum pernah dengar (cmiiw).

Untuk motor yg baru berumur s/d 5 taon rasanya yg paling pas dicurigai adalah rante ketengnya (lihat gambar parts no 2) sendiri atau mekanisme kerja tensioner (no 3 & 7) dan baut penekannya (no 4). Untuk motor yg berusia lebih dari 5 taon bisa jadi tensionernya juga minta ganti.

Keterangan gambar:

a. Rante Keteng : 14401-KBB-901 Chain, cam (102 L) (no 2)

b. Tensioner 1 : 14500-KBB-900 TENSIONER, CAM CHAIN (no 3)

c. Tensioner 2 :14550-KCJ-710 GUIDE, CAM CHAIN (no 7)

d. Baut penekan : 14520-KY7-000 LIFTER ASSY., TENSIONER (no 4)

Krn ini merupakan kerjaan yg tidak ringan, baiknya segera dibawa ke bengkel kepercayaan. Tapi baiknya kita sendiri ngerti dasar-2nya sehingga tidak akan buang-2 duit percuma.

1. Cek dulu mekanisme kerja baut penekan, caranya disetel penekannya pada posisi terdalam (maks.)

2. Kalo masih bunyi "tek-tek-tek" lepas baut penekannya, cek cara kerjanya secara manual, dari posisi no 1. di atas (penekan maks), tekan dng tangan ambles lagi kedalam nggak, kalo iya berarti penekan ini (parts no 4 di gambar) bermasalah. Sebab umum yg terjadi adalah patahnya per di dalemnya. Kalo beli baru harga bisa 300rb lebih satu set, kalo mekanik yg pengalaman, bisa bongkar sendiri dan per yg di dalemnya sedikit diakali, dan dipasang kembali.

3. Kalo masih bunyi, berarti ketengnya memang sudah waktunya diganti. Siapkan:

a. rante keteng

b. packing tutup magnet (sebelah kiri)

c. packing tutup setelan tensioner

Banyak alternatif dari yg parts ahm japan punya 275rb, ahm biasa atau aspira sekitar 100rb lebih sekian. Cek bandingkan panjang rante yg lama dng yg baru, caranya uraikan /gantung kedua rante pada obeng, kalo umur pake yg lama sudah abis, beda panjang kedua rante akan signifikan. Sedangkan packing bisa beli satuan (tidak per set), tetapi kalo sulit mendapatkan bisa membeli packing buat mesin mobil yg lembaran dan dimal di permukaan mesin.

4. Cek juga kondisi tensioner, kalo yg orisinal harganya sepasang (liat gbr part no 3 & 7) sekitar 400rb, sedang yg lokal merk MPM 50rb. Pada umumnya yg diganti hanya yg no 3 saja, krn yg kerja ditekan disini, dan kemudahan penggantiannya. Kalo berikut yg no 7 mesti turun mesin, krn letaknya yg dijepit sama mesin.

Ongkos bengkel biasa (non ahass) kurang lebih 25-30rb untuk pengerjaan penggantian keteng. Kalo diliat dari fisiknya, umumnya usia rante keteng adalah lebih dari 1 tahun, kecil kemungkinan umur keteng hanya dalam itungan bulan.

Berpagi 3

“Allahumma innii ashbahtu minka , 
fii ni’matin 
wa‘aa fiyatin 
wa sitrin 
fa A timma ‘alaiya
ni’mataka
wa‘aa fiyataka
wasitroka 
fiddunyaa wal aakhirah."

Osama today Islam tomorow

Far from mourning the death of Osama bin Laden, most Muslim-Americans are celebrating his demise, saying they have no sympathy to spare for a man who indiscriminately slaughtered people of all religions and launched their community into a decade of distrust and discrimination.

"A lot of (Muslim-Americans) feel, first and foremost, catharsis and relief," said Wajahat Ali, a Muslim-American writer and attorney in the San Francisco Bay area. "Relief because Osama bin Laden was a global symbol of terror and indiscriminate violence.

"… It's also a relief because he symbolizes (those who) hijacked Islam, legitimizing his ruthlessness (using the) religion. …  His name and the photo (are) imprinted on the collective consciousness of the world." 
"Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims," said Imam Mohamed Magid, president of the Islamic Society of North America. "Indeed, al-Qaida has slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries, including our own. So his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity."

Backlash But they were divided about whether bin Laden's demise would mark a turn for the better for the Muslim-American community, which many say has been subjected to anti-Islamic attacks and overzealous intelligence gathering by U.S. authorities as a backlash sparked by bin Laden and his al-Qaida terror network.

"For too long, many of our fellow Americans have stereotyped the entire Muslim community as somehow being extensions of bin Laden," Yasir Qadhi, an Orthodox Muslim leader and Islamic Studies scholar at Yale University, said in an email.  "While the capture of Osama bin Laden was always a high priority, dealing with bin Laden should never have distracted us from solving our domestic problems, nor been used to create problems that did not exist (by targeting and stereotyping the Muslim community).

"With his death, we pray that we as a nation can regain our composure and begin in earnest to take our country to greater heights."

the difference between spelling Islam and Islamism

As an editor at the National Post, I often rely on three letters to protect my columnists from human-rights tribunals: I-S-M — these being the difference between spelling Islam and Islamism.
The former is a religion — like Christianity or Judaism. The latter is an ideology, which seeks to impose an intolerant fundamentalist version of Islam on all Muslims, and spread the faith throughout the world. Declaring Islamism a menace isn’t controversial. Declaring Islam a menace is considered hate speech.
Geert Wilders’ refusal to deploy those three letters is the reason that the 47-year-old Dutch politician travels with bodyguards, and cannot sleep in the same house two nights in a row. For Mr. Wilders, the problem plaguing Western societies is Islam, full stop. Terrorism, tyranny, the subjugation of women — these are not perversions of Islam, as he sees it, but rather its very essence.
“The word ‘Islamism’ suggests that there is a moderate Islam and a non-moderate Islam,” he told me during an interview in Toronto on Sunday. “And I believe that this is a distinction that doesn’t exist. It’s like the Prime Minister of Turkey [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, said ‘There is no moderate or immoderate Islam. Islam is Islam, and that’s it.’ This is the Islam of the Koran.”
“Now, you can certainly make a distinction among the people,” he adds. “There are moderate Muslims — who are the majority in our Western societies — and non-moderate Muslims.”
“But Islam itself has only one form. The totalitarian ideology contained in the Koran has no room for moderation. If you really look at what the Koran says, in fact, you could argue that ‘moderate’ Muslims are not Muslims at all. It tells us that if you do not act on even one verse, then you are an apostate.”
Unlike most critics of Islam, who tend to shy away from the explosive subject of Mohammed himself, Mr. Wilders forthrightly describes the Muslim Prophet as a dictator, a pedophile and a warmonger. “If you study the life of Mohammed,” Mr.Wilders told me, “you can see that he was a worse terrorist than Osama bin Laden ever was.”
It is an understatement to call Mr. Wilders a divisive figure in the Netherlands. On the one hand, he is the leader of the PVV, the country’s third most popular political party — which currently is propping up the ruling minority government. And Mr. Wilders has been declared “politician of the year” by a popular Dutch radio station, and come in second in a variety of other mainstream polls.
On the other hand, the Muslim Council of Britain has called him “an open and relentless preacher of hate.” For a time, Mr. Wilders, even was banned from entering the U.K. A popular Dutch rapper wrote a song about killing Mr. Wilders (“This is no joke. Last night I dreamed I chopped your head off.”)
Before meeting Mr. Wilders on Sunday, I knew him mostly from his most inflammatory slogans — such as his comparison of the Koran to Mein Kampf — which his detractors fling around as proof of his narrow-minded bigotry.
Yet the real Geert Wilders speaks softly and thoughtfully. It turns out that he’s travelled to dozens of Muslim nations. He knows more about the Islamic faith and what it means to ordinary people than do most of Islam’s most ardent Western defenders.
Nor do I believe that Mr. Wilders is a bigot — a least, not in the sense that the word usually is understood.
“I don’t hate Muslims. I hate their book and their ideology,” is what he told Britain’s Guardian newspaper in 2008. Mr. Wilders sees Islam as akin to communism or fascism, a cage that traps its suffering adherents in a hateful, phobic frame of mind.
Mr. Wilders describes Muslim as victims of bad ideas, in other words. In this way, his attitude is entirely different from classic anti-Semites and racists, who treat Jews and blacks as debased on the level of biology.
Of course, in the modern, politically correct Western tradition, hatred expressed toward a religion typically is held on the same level of human-rights opprobrium as hatred expressed toward a race or an ethnicity. But Islam is not really a religion at all, as Mr. Wilders sees it, but rather a retrograde political ideology with religious trappings.
He notes that while other religions draw a distinction between God and Ceasar, between the secular and the spiritual, Islam demands submission in every aspect of human existence, both through the wording of the Koran itself and the Shariah law that has developed in its shadow. The faith also supplies a justification for aggressive war; vilifies non-believers; and pronounces death upon its enemies. In short, Mr. Wilders argues, it has all the ingredients of what students of 20th century history would recognize as a fully formed totalitarian ideology.
“I see Islam as 95% ideology, 5% religion — the 5% being the temples and the imams,” he tells me. “If you would strip the Koran of all the negative, hateful, anti-Semitic material, you would wind up with a tiny [booklet].”
It’s easy to see why many Europeans casually jump to the conclusion that Mr. Wilders is a hatemonger. He wants to halt non-Western immigration to the Netherlands until existing immigrants can be integrated, and he wants to deport any foreigner who commits a crime — the same sort of policies as those advocated by genuine xenophobes.
But even so, his insistence on the proper distinction between faith and ideology is an idea that deserves to be taken seriously. For it invites the question: If we permit the excoriation of totalitarian cults created by modern dictators, why do we stigmatize (and even criminalize) the excoriation of arguably similar notions when they happen to be attributed to a 7th-century Bedouin with supernatural visions?
It’s a good question. And as far as I know, Geert Wilders is the only Western politician taking it seriously.
National Post

An emerging moderate Islam?

Arab world upheaval may soon determine whether Islam is a religion like all other creeds, or will continue to regard the rest of the world as inferior.

Talkbacks (11)   One of the questions looming in the wake of the current upheavals in the Arab world is the status and role of the Islamic movements in the involved countries, and what kind of role they might assume in the materializing new realities. With religious freedom having been kept under tight control by Bashar Assad’s and Hosni Mubarak’s regimes, Muslim movements are now slowly beginning to raise their heads – first and foremost in Egypt.

Is the West’s fear of radical Islam taking over parts of the Middle East founded? Might there be a hope for moderate Muslim movements to take the fore in the new constellations? Different perspectives on the region and Islam appear to result in different approaches.

“Would you consider the Muslim Brotherhood extreme?” challenged the head of Haifa University’s Jewish- Arab Center, Prof. Yitzhak Weismann, an expert on radical Islam and Islamic movements.

“You must differentiate between Islamic movements, most of which are peaceful, and only the minority promote the dissemination of Islam Dawah,” or hold proselytization as the most fundamental religious command, he said.

The situation is not different within Israel, Weismann noted, where one can see the difference between the northern and southern factions of the Islamic Movement – the southerners recognize the State of Israel and talk of peace, while the northerners will have none of that.

“Our problem is that even those considered moderate in the Arab world are hostile to Israel and Zionism,” he continued.

“These movements have many names. As far as the moderate groups go, the bulk of them are the Muslim Brotherhood. There are more radical groups, such as the Salafis, which can be compared to Jewish haredim, with the Brotherhood being more similar to the national-religious Jews. Among the Salafis you can find jihadist groups, such as al-Qaida,” he noted.

“Radical factions did, however, stem from the Muslim Brotherhood, such as Hamas, which during the first intifada in 1987 underwent a switch to violence. But also more moderate movements came from the Brotherhood, such as the Wasatia, which developed in Egypt and includes not only Muslims, but also Copts and Christians,” Weismann went on.

“The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and other countries is the power of the people, and a very important element,” he added. “They are more hostile toward Israel than some of the secular forces at work.”

At the same time, Weismann said, “one needn’t be pessimistic. This doesn’t mean that if the Muslim Brotherhood takes control in Egypt, they will cancel the peace agreements with Israel. There is still realpolitik, other considerations to take into account. When you are in the opposition, you can say what you want.”

WHILE IN Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood is a movement of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, in Syria it was brutally crushed by Hafez Assad 1982, when he massacred thousands of Sunni Muslims in the city of Hama, Weissman said. Their Syrian leadership remains in exile. In Jordan, for instance, the movement is more prominent and maintains good relations with the current and former monarchs. While they criticized the peace accord with Israel, they never went as far as making it a casus belli.

“These religious groups did not initiate the movement to democracy in the Arab world, but eventually jumped on the bandwagon when it became clear where the wind was blowing,” he said. “In some states – certainly Egypt – they are a force to be reckoned with.”

But to Prof. Joseph Ben-Dak, one cannot really consider moderate Islam a dominant force in the Arab world.

Ben-Dak, a Galilee-based sociologist and expert on Islam, terror and applying social sciences and business management to sustainable society, spent many years traveling Muslim and Arab countries, first and foremost in his capacity as the UN’s top official in science and technology from 1991 to 1999.

“I don’t think that nowadays there is a moderate Islamic movement, excepting the Wasatia, which doesn’t have significant sway, due in part to the fear of being considered heretics,” Ben-Dak said of the Muslim movement promoting centrism and moderation in religion. The Egyptian branch of the Wasatia movement, he noted as an example, was nowhere to be seen in public life during Mubarak’s reign.

“Islamic theses like the Wasatia haven’t become established in any part of the Middle East,” Ben-Dak said. “People who used terms like ‘moderation’ – such as [late Egyptian author] Naguib Mahfouz and Muhammad Abduh [the Egyptian scholar considered the founder of Islamic Modernism] – were intellectuals rather than religious leaders, who dealt with modernizing their society. They were not talking about Islam. And even if they used religious terms in their discourse, it is primarily a result of their background and upbringing.”

Ben-Dak added that “there is a slightly more moderate Muslim theology in existence, active, but in a silent way. I wouldn’t say that they have great influence. There has always been a tradition of extreme Islam, such as the Salafi movement that regards any infidel as less worthy and refuses to accept the notion of regarding them as equal in religious rights or close to coreligionists.”

Ben-Dak, who has been active for years in interfaith dialogue forums with Muslims and Christians from around the world, pointed out that Muslims from different regions do not necessarily agree on what is the most authentic representation of their religion.

“One must keep in mind that Arab Islam is considered in other parts of the Muslim world as problematic, at times even to the extent of Middle Eastern Arabs [being] regarded as straying from the true way of the faith,” he said.

Ben-Dak noted that while the religious movements were not behind the current uprisings in the Arab world, “they are waiting for the opportunity to take control and establish a Muslim rule. In Egypt, they now have to deal with the military. But there are already many cracks in the regime there, and the Muslim movements are seeking to expand them.”

According to Ben-Dak, “the main problem will arrive at the second stage [of the regime changes in the Arab world], when Islam for the first time ever will have to decide whether it is a religion like all other creeds, or continue regarding the rest of the world as inferior.”

This issue “will face the Sunni majority in Syria soonest, who, if they come to power, will face the choice of leading a modern democracy, or crushing those who are different – the Alawite minority that currently rules the country – and doing to them ‘what they deserve,’” he said.

“Will the Muslim religion enable its believers to support, help and invest in other practitioners as equals? Until that does happen, one cannot talk about moderate Islam,” he continued. “Allowing the development of creating a universe of action and understanding between and among non-coreligionists is an imperative criterion for worthy moderation.

It exists in the work of innovators like the Imam Halima Kraussen” – a religious woman Muslim leader in Western Europe – “or Prof. Muhammad Dajani in Jerusalem, but islands of outstanding integrity do not yet make it a true working reality of a good and healthy outlook for humanity.”

Ben-Dak noted that such a movement toward a moderate Islamic rule could be seen to a certain extent in countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia.

“But Middle Eastern Islam is different – there are many questions of Arab nationalism involved, while the Far East Islam can be more universal,” he said.

Libyan TV address by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

(Reuters) - Following are highlights from an address on state TV by the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, on the unrest gripping Libya.
PROSPECT OF REFORM
"Today we are at a crossroads ... We either tell ourselves 'we are Libyans and this is country, we want ... freedom, democracy and real reform, this and that', and this has been planned and agreed upon and was supposed to be done at the upcoming general congress assembly ... (or) we will all seek the arbitration of weapons, 5 million Libyans will seek the arbitration of weapons."
"Tomorrow we conduct a historic national initiative, within 48 hours, three days, 6 hours, to call for a General People's Congress with a clear agenda that is to adopt a battery of laws that had initially been agreed upon, the press law, the civil society.
Civilised laws that, new laws ... widens freedoms, cancel many of the exisiting hinderances and silly existing punishments and initiates a national dialogue on a Libyan constitution."
ON REPORTED DEATHS IN THE UNREST
"There were some planning errors. Errors from the police ... and the army that was not equipped and prepared to confront angry people and...to defend its premises, weapons and ammunition.
"Each party has its own version of the story...But the unfortunate bottom line is that sons of Libya have died. This is the tragedy."
ON THE DEMANDS OF PROTESTERS
He said he agreed with and understood the "clear political agenda and demands" by political organisations, trade unions and lawyers whom he said were behind the events in the east of Libya.
"These do not represent a problem. We understand and agree with their opinions."
ON PEOPLE HE BLAMED FOR THE UNREST
"They have started by attacking army camps, have killed soldiers, officers...and taken weapons."
"The security forces...have arrested dozens in Libya who unfortunately were among our brother Arabs and among the African expatriates...who were used in these events at these times to create problems...Some wealthy (businessmen) and tradesmen spent millions on them to use these people."
"There are groups that want to rule, there are groups that want to form the state in eastern Libya and rule...in Benghazi and Baida...
"There are groups that have formed a government in Benghazi and groups that have set up an Islamic emirate in Baida ... and another person who declared himself to be the ruler of the Islamic Republic of Darna."
"They now want to transform Libya into a group of (Islamic) emirates, small states and even (cause) separatism. They have a plot. Unfortunately, our brother Arabs (allowed) their media, their stations and the inflammatory coverage."

violence link weighs heavy on Muslims

* Bin Laden linked Islam and violence
* Peaceful Muslims struggle to shake off suspicions
* Arab revolts push religious factor into background

By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor
PARIS, May 2 (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden's radical Islamism has had a devastating impact on Muslims around the world by linking their faith with violence and using religious texts to justify mass killings.
His "jihadist" strategy has claimed the lives of many thousands of Muslims in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan, as well as in the United States, Europe and Africa.
It has also tarred Muslims with suspicion and helped feed prejudice against them. Especially in the West, many Muslims felt pressured to denounce a man they never identified with.
"The link he made between violence and Islam made people think this was a religion of terrorists," said Dalil Boubakeur, rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris.
"In Western countries, we've had to show on a daily basis that Islam is not violent and Osama bin Laden does not represent Muslims," he said. France is home to Europe's largest Muslim minority of about five million people.
Muslim leaders have issued many denunciations of the radical Islamist violence championed by bin Laden. Mainstream scholars have drawn up declarations and fatwas to counter his arguments with opposing views from the Koran.
While these may have influenced some undecided Muslims, they had little apparent success in shaking a view that bin Laden represented an important current within Islam.

ARAB REVOLTS HELP CHANGE IMAGE
The recent wave of pro-democracy uprisings in the Arab world has gone some way to weakening the perceived link between Islam and violence.
The world's media have shown pictures of young Muslims campaigning for civil rights without resorting to religious violence.
"In public and private discussion on the main issues facing the Muslim world, violence through radical religious means used to be quite prominent," said H.A. Hellyer, a fellow at Warwick University in Britain. "That has disappeared in recent months."
"Two main stereotypes about the Muslim world, and especially the Arab world, have been broken," he said by phone from Cairo. "The first is that you need a strongman to keep people in check, otherwise they will opt for radical violent Islamism.
"The stereotype about violence has also been broken by and large. These revolutions started as peaceful revolutions and only became violent when the regimes -- which are areligious -- used violence."
Bin Laden made heavy use of Islamic rhetoric to defend a struggle against the United States, Israel and the Saudi royal family.
Although not a trained Islamic scholar, he issued fatwas in 1996 and 1998 urging Muslims to kill Americans and Israelis to avenge the stationing of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia and the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands.
In several messages since 2001, he urged Muslims to fight the United States, using the Koranic term jihad ("struggle") for "holy war" despite the fact -- as many scholars pointed out -- that its primary meaning is a Muslim's inner struggle to do God's will.

EFFORTS TO COUNTER BIN LADEN
Muslim scholars have issued many statements refuting his radical interpretation of Islam. In 2004, the Amman Message strictly limited takfir, or excommunication, a practice radicals have used to justify killing fellow Muslims they disagreed with.
Last year, prominent scholars recast a medieval fatwa on jihad that bin Laden and his supporters have often cited to declare their Muslim opponents infidels and wage war on them.
Also in 2010, Pakistani Sufi scholar Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri published a 600-page fatwa refuting a long list of arguments radical Islamists have cited to justify their violent acts.
Opinion polls have also shown bin Laden's violent tactics had little support among Muslims.
In the months leading up to his death, a survey by the Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project found only 1 percent of Muslims in Lebanon expressed confidence in bin Laden and 13 percent in Jordan.
The highest level of support was in the Palestinian territories -- although even there only 34 percent said they had confidence in the terrorist leader to do the right thing in world affairs.
In Pakistan, where 2011 data is still not available, confidence in bin Laden fell from 52 percent in 2005 to just 18 percent in last year's survey.
But getting that message across in the non-Muslim world was an uphill struggle, said Hellyer.
"Despite all the fatwas and declarations against violence, it hasn't seemed to seep into the public consciousness what Muslims do or do not support," he said. (Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Berpagi 2

"Asbahna wa asbahal mulku lillahi... 
walhamdulillah... 
la syarikalah... 
La ilaha illa huwa.. 
wa ilaihi nusyur......"

berpagi 1

" Ashbahna ala fitrotil islam 
wa kalimatil ikhlash 
wa 'ala dini nabiyyina muhammadin sollallahu 'alaihi wa sallam, 
wa 'ala millati abina ibrahima hanifa 
wa ma kana minal musyrikin "

Wayne Rooney was a notable absentee for Manchester United's main group session during training ahead of Wednesday's Champions League quarter-final against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
As required by Uefa, United opened the doors of their Carrington training complex for the first 15 minutes of their pre-match session and Rooney, in the spotlight following his reaction to scoring a hat-trick at West Ham on Saturday, did not appear.
There was no official word from the club as to why the 25-year-old England striker was missing, and it was still expected that he will play in tomorrow's first leg match in London.
However, beyond question is the fact that all eyes will be on Rooney when the striker does eventually appear after he was charged with using abusive language at Upton Park, which brings the potential for a two-match ban.
United must decide by this evening whether to contest the charge which, as it presently stands, would rule Rooney out of Saturday's Premier League game with Fulham and the following weekend's FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City at Wembley.
Darren Fletcher also missed the session, though there was also good news for United as long-term absentees Rio Ferdinand and Anderson both trained, raising the likelihood that they will be involved at Chelsea.