Iranians are upset over the failure of 35 Iranian scientists to obtain Egyptian visas for a recent meeting in Alexandria of researchers hoping to work on the Synchrotron Light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME) project. Eight countries are now members of this consortium - an interesting mix of countries: Jordan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Pakistan, Palestine and Turkey (yes...this is really the list). The Iranian parliament is expected to vote sometime next year on a proposal to formally join the project in which its scientists have participated since 2001. So...Middle East peace will be achieved through a Synchrotron - at least its a new idea. But this visa issue may influence Iran's decision to join-in. According to Science (Dec 15, 2006), some miscommunication on both sides about timings was responsible for visa denials.

The synchrotron machine is donated by Germany and will be located at a site 19 miles outside Amman, Jordan. It is expected to start working in 2010 and is intended as both a platform for research and a model for research cooperation. You can find more info. about SESAME here

This building, located 19 miles outside of amman, Jordan, will house the SESAME particle accelerator.

A place like Digg.com can generate a amazing amount of traffic in a one-day pulse. What if you could make that happen on a more regular basis? This short article talks about one approach:How to Build a ‘Digg Culture’ on your BlogThe key sentence is this: "If you are able to convert your incoming readers from Digg into regular readers you then have a unique opportunity to get repeat appearances on

God is indeed using some old recycled arguments (Stalin, Hiter, etc), but does have a point about asking Dawkins to relax a bit. You can read the full letter here: A Christmas thunderbolt for for the arch-enemy of religion

Quite appropriately, the battle over bacterial flagellum - oh that key piece of evidence for ID-ists, is now on YouTube...so now the Time's Person of the Year can weigh in directly.

Here is the Flagellum evolution video

This is a cool visual of expansion of religions. Very aptly advertised as: "See 5,000 years of religion in 90 seconds..."
History of Religion

and here is 5000 year Imperial History of the Middle East - yes compressed in 90 seconds (take that you history courses!!)

On Carl Sagan's 10th death anniversary, couple of his quotes related to science & religion and his views on afterlife:

The following two quotes are from the May 1981 issue of U.S. Catholic, and the interview was titled: God and Carl Sagan: Is the Cosmos Big Enough for Both of Them?
On the issue of "first cause":

I would say the question of a "first cause" is only a speculation. It is perfectly possible that the universe is infinitely old and therefore uncaused. In fact, there are detailed cosmological models that hold such a view and that are consistent with everything we know. To my mind, it seems not fully satisfactory to say that there was a first cause. That seems to postpone dealing with the problem rather than solving it. If we say "God" made the universe, then surely the next question is, "Who made God?" If we say "God" was always here, why not say the universe was always here? If we say that the question "Where did God come from?" is too tough for us poor mortals to understand, then why not say that the question of, "Where did the universe come from?" is too tough for us mortals? In what way, exactly, does the God hypothesis advance our knowledge of cosmology? What predictions does it make on which the hypothesis will stand or fall?

Q: In the final analysis, what does Carl Sagan, scientist, explainer of science, and embodiment of "creative skepticism" believe?

Sagan: My deeply held belief is that if a god of anything like the traditional sort exists, our curiosity and intelligence are provided by such a god. We would be unappreciative of those gifts if we suppressed our passion to explore the universe and ourselves. On the other hand, if such a god does not exist, our curiosity and our intelligence are the essential tools for managing our survival. In either case, the enterprise of knowledge is consistent with both science and religion, and is essential for the welfare of our species.

From his last essay, In the Valley of Shadows (1996 article in the Parade magazine and also reprinted in Billions and Billions), when doctors had told him that he had less than 3-months to live:

I would love to believe that when I die I will live again, that some thinking, feeling, remembering part of me will continue. But much as I want to believe that, and despite the ancient and worldwide cultural traditions that assert an afterlife, I know of nothing to suggest that it is more than wishful thinking. The world is so exquisite with so much love and moral depth, that there is no reason to deceive ourselves with pretty stories for which there's little good evidence. Far better it seems to me, in our vulnerability, is to look death in the eye and to be grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides.

From Ann Druyan's Epilogue to Billions and Billions:

Contrary to the fantasies of the fundamentalists, there was no deathbed conversion, no last minute refuge taken in a comforting vision of a heaven or an afterlife. For Carl, what mattered most was what was true, not merely what would make us feel better. Even at this moment when anyone would be forgiven for turning away from the reality of our situation, Carl was unflinching. As we looked deeply into each other's eyes, it was with a shared conviction that our wondrous life together was ending forever.

Ok..so not directly science & religion, but this still touches on the issue of origins (and its really cool!). Using Spitzer Space Telescope (it works in the infrared), astronomers have found possible signs of first stars in the universe that lived about 13 billion years ago. Why do astronomers care about this? Almost all elements other than hydrogen and helium (these were produced in the Big Bang) have been processed inside stars or in the explosions of dying stars. But stars are great at recycling - the next generation of stars is born out of gaseous material ejected by dying stars. Thus all the stars that we see contain at least some recycled material - observed in the form of elements heavier than hydrogen & helium (our Sun is a third generation star). But there has to be a first generation of stars made up purely of hydrogen and NO processed elements.

These stars, for various reasons, are expected to be much bigger than the stars we see today. These are also expected to live a very short life time (perhaps less than a million years) thus quickly providing processed material for the next generation of stars. The Spitzer observations have either found light from these first generation stars, each about 1000 times as massive as our Sun, or this light is from some early black holes. This is one of those rare instances where the possibility of black holes is less exciting than the discovery of stars. You can read the full story here:

The focus may still just be on applied sciences...but at least its a start.

From Science (Dec 8, 2006)

Saudi Arabia, which spends less on research and education per capita than almost all other countries, announced last week that it will commit $2.6 billion to build the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in the desert. Undergraduate degrees in diverse fields including biotechnology and computer science will be offered beginning in 2008, with enrollment restricted to Saudis and some foreign "outstanding Muslim students," says a Saudi official. There are no plans yet for a Ph.D. program.

This is the latest step in a recent push for scientific development in the Arab world. But the bottleneck is not money, says Rabi Mohtar, an agricultural engineer at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, who is working with the Qatar Foundation to boost science in the region. The lack of prestige and opportunities in the sciences drives the vast majority of Arab researchers abroad to study and work. However, "having big educational investments will hopefully raise the level of public awareness," he says, and may entice Arab scientists back home.

If you want to know how Sam Harris (the author of "The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason") and Richard Dawkins (the author of "The God Delusion") celebrate Christmas...
An Atheist Can Believe in Christmas (from New York Times - 12/17/06)

and a relevant cartoon:

Still smarting from last year's court decision against the teaching of Intelligent Design in Dover, PA, William Dembski (one of the main ID proponents) has been regularly attacking the presiding judge of the trial. In reaching a new low, he has come up with an animation that he is offering as a Christmas gift. You can check out the animation here, and this is what he has to say about it on the website Overwhelming Evidence:

Christmas came early this year!

From Bill Dembski:

"The Judge Jones School of Law" is the brainchild of brilliant professional flash animator (I think of him as the "Rembrandt" of flash animation; for now he will remain anonymous until he sees the fallout from his handiwork) as well as of me and my lovely wife Jana (who came up with the name). We present this as a Christmas gift to students everywhere. Around Christmas last year, Judge Jones did you the disservice of shafting you royally. This time it's your turn to laugh at his expense. Yes, the humor is adolescent, but overwhelmingevidence.com is a site for adolescents, and you are, after all, the ones who got shafted, having to endure the imbecility that is Darwinism at school by being forcefed this materialist ideology in the name of science.

Proposed course requirement at Harvard in the category of reason and faith has been dropped.

And in case you missed Steven Pinker's views on this, you can read them here: Less Faith More Reason

Finally a video game that we can all appreciate. From the creators of the Left Behind book series, comes this new video game called Left Behind: Eternal Forces:

The game is set in New York City after millions of Christians have been transported to heaven. Players are charged with recruiting, and converting, an army that will engage in physical and spiritual warfare with the antichrist and his evil followers.

Here is the relevant CNN story and you can find more information about the game here.


Not to be left behind (ha ha), here is a new video game where a rabbi is having a crisis of faith.

Planetboredom.net is seeing a huge traffic spike on Alexa this week. If you look at Planetboredom.net, you can see it is just a set of links to videos - no magic here. But there are four things that they are doing well:They are choosing compelling videos.The home page gives you lots of options. You are probably going to find smething interesting to you very quickly. They are updating

You just can never tell what will resonate. The video has been viewed over 300,000 times. The site is called LineRider.com.The only way to find out if something resonates is to try it.

First of all, go look at this site:http://www.msdewey.com/Then go took at its traffic on Alexa:Alexa reachAll this traffic for a search engine. A completely normal search engine. The thing that is unique is the User Interface. It appears that pure novelty is driving the traffic. Now, if they had something really amazing for people to see once they arrived, this would be a win. What it means to

Looking for a way to drive traffic to your website? Consider creating a short video. There is a Website called Campaignforrealbeauty.com that offers a great example of the process. They produced a video and released it on YouTube last week. Here is the video, entitled "The Evolution of Beauty":As of today there have been over half a million views. According to This article on ABC, this video on

Nice video:The unlikely millionaireIt's never to early to start.

ClustrMaps"See at a glance where your site's visitors are located: instantaneously, even when the numbers are enormous! Visitors don't need to click on anything: just viewing your page is sufficient."

I received this note the other day:i read thru the Robot Nation series back in 2003 and found it very compelling. you elaborate on themes that Asimov touched on in the robot series. anyway, i am quite fond of your work and was recently inspired to launch my own $1,000,000 idea. the concept is pretty simple.www.dailyvitamint.complease check out my site. i'd welcome your feedback.I did check it out

One question that frequently comes up, especially for people who are creating their very first web site, is this: "how do I get links to my new site"? If you have already created a couple of your own sites, and if you have friends with their own sites, this problem is easier to solve -- you and your friends can all link to the new site immediately. Once you have done that, your next step is to

It is called the ChipIn Widget:chipin.com/It is pretty self-explanatory when you look at the web site. I have a friend who has used it and likes it. I have not used it myself. Does anyone have recommendations on other ways to handle money like this?

TMZ.com has come onto the radar of most people in the last month or so because of buzz, and that shows one way to get recognition for your web site. Buzz works. TMZ has a lot of video stuff, and they have broken several big "stories" over the last couple of weeks, and they get recognition for that. It is the same recipe that brought recognition to the DrudgeReport.com site back in the Monica

Tracks Internet startupsTechcrunch.com/Can be a source of many ideas.

The last post mentioned the possibility of self-publishing a book, and since I also wrote about self-publishing in the article How to make a million dollars, I have received questions asking about book publishing. The gist is, "will it really work if I publish a book myself?" and, "how do I do it?"I have published a number of books through traditional publishers (here's a list). My wife and I

Letter from a reader:Hi Marshall:Been reading your stuff. Quite fascinating actually. Anyway I have a great idea for a book I have been pondering. Men will love it I am sure. Would it be a good idea to blog my book first to get some exposure from publicists etc, and is this way a good way to make money by blogging it? Any ideas or help would be appreciated.There are two separate issues here:

Google Toolbar PageRank Demystified

Perhaps this is not the "top 10", but it is an interesting list:Top 10 Dumbest Online Business Ideas That Made It Big TimeOne thing to keep in mind is that there are hundreds of millions of web sites. No one knows what will resonate or not. So some "non-intuitive" ideas are going to resonate. The same thing can happen in books (who would have thought that the first Harry Potter book would sell so

Using the Web to promote an offline business:The Virtually Famous ComedianHis MySpace page is legendary:Dane Cook

Quick guide to making a web site better:Eight Problems That Haven't ChangedThey are:Tell me where I've beenGive back the back buttonOne window is enoughPop-up pollutionBanner blindnessPlay niceDon't ObfuscateReadability = usability

Interesting example of a viral website:Sears Backyard

Think of this more as a "starting point for an idea" rather than a complete guide. It does show you how to get a different kind of content "on the air":How to create an internet radio station

A free place to start a website:Zoomshare - Make a free website, free home page, online photo album, free blog, free e-mail, free hosting

An example of a simple web site idea, and then an example of how a simple idea can get a lot of publicity:Chasing Exotic Cars Is Their Pursuit

Sometimes, coming up with an idea is hard. Here are two simple ideas to get the juices flowing:1) Magic has been around forever:Mighty Magic Tricks2) This second one is interesting because: a) it is a simple idea, b) it appeals to an audience that is known to exist, and c) the content is free. Flickr babes

Nice set of resources:Web Developer's Handbook: developing web-sites, exploring imagination

Interesting perspective:Ugly Design Works - Most Web Designers Miss the PointSee also:How C.R.A.P is Your Site Design?

A quick introduction to SEO:Webmonkey Q&A: Search Engine Optimization

This will give you some design ideas:Top 10 Best Designed Blogs You have to scroll down.

Something to keep in mind:F-Shaped Pattern For Reading Web Content

Making money from MySpace:The MySpace Economy

New Trends In Online Traffic: "While growth is slowing at most top Internet sites, it is skyrocketing at sites focused on social networking, blogging and local information.The dramatic success of those Internet categories is apparent from a recent online-traffic analysis provided by market research firm ComScore Media Metrix, which examined visitor growth rates among the 50 top Web sites over the

Ideas for running small businesses:Business owners idea cafeSee also:WSJ StartupJournal

Buy and Sell Used Furniture Locally at FurniTrader.com

Webcast singer snapped up by SonyFrom the article:A British singer has signed up by a major record label after broadcasting live performances from her living room on the Internet.Sandi Thom, 24, is now on the books of RCA/SonyBMG after signing with the label at her flat on Monday night.She built up a daily audience of more than 100,000 people around the world.That's a pretty nice daily audience!

"Making A Living 100% Online" says the tagline:CyberWyre

Rules to Better Google Rankings

Design ideas:Best Web Designs Of World

How Islamic inventors changed the world From coffee to cheques andthe three-course meal, the Muslim world has given us many innovationsthat we take for granted in daily life. As a new exhibition opens, PaulVallely nominates 20 of the most influential- and identifies the men ofgenius behind them Published: 11 March 2006 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/article350594.

An interesting place to get ideas for kid sites:best-selling children's books of all time

Y Combinator

Every little bit helps:How to get TRAFFIC on your NEW site

Many non-Muslims, when they think about Islam, picture religious fanatics on camels with a sword in one hand and a Qur'an in the other. This myth, which was made popular in Europe during the Crusades, is totally baseless. First of all, the Holy Qur'an clearly says "Let there be no compulsion in religion". In addition to this, Islam teaches that a person's faith must be pure and sincere,

Taken from http://maryam-blog.blogspot.com/2005/07/there-is-candle-in-your-heart.html

Something to think about:Potential readers can make snap decisions in just 50 milliseconds.

Sometimes things work out exactly as you plan..."Million Dollar Homepage" Hits the Mark

An Illuminating Conversation between George Bernard Shaw and His Eminence Mohammad Abdul Aleem Siddiqui, al Qaderi Taken from http://muslim-canada.org/shavian.htm His Eminence Maulana Mohammed Abdul Aleem Siddiqui, al-Qaderi, the eminent Muslim divine, who was on a visit to Mombassa, [Kenya, Africa] interviewed George Bernard Shaw, the world-renowned Irish savant, who was passing through on his

The Prophet in Barzakh The Special Life of Our Prophet by Sayyid Muhammad ibn `Alawi al-Maliki Translation and notes by GF Haddad © It is established that our Prophet possesses an isthmus-life that is greater and more perfect than that of any other, of which he himself told us. It is equally established that he is intimately connected with the Community, fully cognizant of their

In the name of Allah the Beneficient the MercifulLets pay tribute to the greatest & beloved of all mankind, the light whose mere presence is the existance of this universe. All the Peace & Blessings of Allah be unto the Final Messenger Muhammad Sallahu Alihi Wsallam, because of whom we are what we are. One day Ali, karam Allahu wajhahu, the cousin and son-in-law of the Holy Prophet Alihi Salat

Asalam o alikum (Peace be onto you all)I m starting this blog for posting islamic teachings n issues according to Ahle Sunnah (Sunni perspective) . The posts will be taken accross the internet and wont be my own. Hope it will help you understanding different Islamic concepts.I only require your donation in form of PRAYERS.wsalam.