To view the content of this post, please click here:
http://www.inspiremeasap.blogspot.com/2011/08/don-laugh-at-me.html

I am holding in my hand one of the very first print editions of The Lean Startup. The Zen-inspired design by Marcus Gosling looks amazing in physical form. And in just two weeks, on September 13, 2011, it will be in bookstores everywhere. Read below for details on the book tour, how to get a free book, and more.

Excitement about the book continues to build, and I am a little overwhelmed by all the attention. Over the weekend, The Lean Startup hit #1 on Barnes & Noble overall (it's still there as I'm writing this, wow). Amazon and B&N have been involved in a bit of a price war, dropping the price below $14 for the first time. And, in a minor but satisfying victory, my publisher has dropped the price of the Kindle edition to $12.99.

The early reviews and endorsements have been amazing. I'm incredibly honored to have so many legends and personal heroes on this list (you can see them all on the Amazon listing). Here's a taste:

"Eric has created a science where previously there was only art.  A must read for every serious entrepreneur—and every manager interested in innovation." —Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, Opsware Inc. and Netscape

“This book should be mandatory reading for entrepreneurs, and the same goes for managers who want better entrepreneurial instincts. Ries’s book is loaded with fascinating stories—not to mention countless practical principles you’ll dearly wish you’d known five years ago.” —Dan Heath, co-author of Switch and Made to Stick

"The Lean Startup isn't just about how to create a more successful entrepreneurial business, it's about what we can learn from those businesses to improve virtually everything we do. I imagine Lean Startup principles applied to government programs, to healthcare, and to solving the world's great problems.  It's ultimately an answer to the question 'How can we learn more quickly what works, and discard what doesn't?'"— Tim O'Reilly, CEO O'Reilly Media 

The Book Tour
Starting in two weeks, I'm going on a crazy action-packed book tour. We'll officially launch the book at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco. From there, the tour goes through Los Angeles, Seattle, Toronto, New York, Boston, Chicago, DC, and culminates back in San Francisco at the Commonwealth Club on September 27. And that's just round one - I'll be back on the road in October, too.

To get all the details on the tour, be sure to follow me on Plancast. I'll be posting links to every event there once they are online.

Virtual Book Tour
For cities that aren't on the tour, you can still participate remotely, via simulcast. This will probably take place September 23. We'll be offering the stream for free to organizers who want to create their own local events, as we did for Startup Lessons Learned. If you're interested in organizing an event, please contact Paul Lamb at Random House.

One Last Lean Startup Bundle (& looking for beta testers)
I'm going to be making one last push for book pre-orders, with an amazing bundle that will go live next week. It will be focused on evangelists who are willing to buy copies for their entire company. The prizes will make it an incredibly good deal - the lineup includes everything from tons of Amazon Web Services credits to time with world-class mentors to signed (!) copies of the new (and awesome) sci-fi novel Ready Player One. Unlike past bundles, this one will be tiered, so more copies = more prizes, and strictly quantity limited.

Want to get a first look at the bundle? I'm looking for beta testers who want to get early access and be guaranteed to get in on the action before their preferred tier sells out. If you sign up for the beta program, you'll find out about the specific prizes and have a chance to order before everyone else. And, in case you hadn't guessed, you'll be looking at a minimum viable product - with details subject to change. If that sounds interesting, sign up now.

Who Influences You?
As the printed books roll off the presses, my publisher will be following the standard launch playbook: mailing early copies out to members of the press, influencers, and bloggers. I get a personal allocation of books to send out, and I'd like to invite you to tell me who to send them to. Who influences you? We all know that one person in our lives who is truly influential, who always gives good advice and who people look up to.

It could be someone in the media, someone you work with, or just someone you know casually. If you want to nominate them to receive an early copy of the book for free, just let me know here. Please don't nominate yourself.

LOL your way to a free early copy
I only have a few early copies I can give away, and not everyone can be an uber-influencer. And I'm getting a little tired of taking this all so seriously. So I am including one last way you can get a completely free copy: create some Lean Startup-themed lulz. You can choose from any of these three memes: Lean Startup Junkies, Winter is Coming, or Lean Startup Cats. Post your entry in the comments (below), or vote for your favorite by replying to the comment. I'll send a free copy to the funniest entry or entries, as judged by the community.

Thank you for your continued support. This book represents over two years of work. I can't wait to hear what you think. Stay tuned...

This is a weekly post by Nidhal Guessoum (see his earlier posts here). Nidhal is an astrophysicist and Professor of Physics at American University of Sharjah and is the author of Islam's Quantum Question: Reconciling Muslim Tradition and Modern Science.


Muslim-Science.Com is an ambitious new website, which describes itself as “an online journal & portal dedicated to the revival of scientific, and science-based innovation and entrepreneurial culture in the Islamic World.”

The website is the brainchild of Dr. Athar Osama, who acts as the manager and coordinator of the Editorial Committee. There is also an Advisory Board, which consists of eminent scientists, innovators-entrepreneurs, policy-makers, and science journalists from the Islamic World and elsewhere.

On his own website, Dr. Osama tells us a bit about himself: “an engineer by my first profession, a technology and innovation policy consultant by the day job, and a reformer (I’d like to believe!) at heart. I have a PhD in public policy with a specialization in science, technology, and innovation policy from the Frederick S. Pardee - RAND Graduate School for Public Policy in Santa Monica, CA.”

Why this (ambitious) website/portal? The rationale is presented on the portal in the following paragraph:

In recent times, the discourse about science and innovation in the Islamic World has hovered between absolute rejection of religion, on one hand, to blind embrace on the other. It has also been theoretical and conjectural falling short of empirical rigor that science itself demands. The mainstream (western) scientific and innovation media does not provide enough coverage to emerging trends in the Muslim World. Muslim-Science is dedicated to the revival of science and science-driven innovation and entrepreneurship in the Islamic World by creating a space for an informed, inspiring, and unbiased dialogue about Science, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship in the Muslim Lands as well as important, but often overlooked issues of science, religion, and society in the Islamic World.

We are further told that “Muslim-Science.Com is designed a platform for a dialogue among Muslims and between Muslims and other communities about the state of science and technology in the Muslim World and the influence of Muslim faith on the former.”

Three main lines of discussion are highlighted: 1) the role and place of Islam in the rise, decline, and (hopefully) revival of science in the Muslim world; 2) the importance and effect of social, cultural, political, and economic factors on the enterprise of science and technology in the Muslim world; 3) the need to provide coverage, encouragement, and mentoring to emerging trends in the Muslim world. Muslim-Science.Com thus aims at providing both rich information to its readers and space for constructive and critical examination of all these issues and factors.

So, as one can note, there is a large spectrum of issues and topics that the project aims to address, ranging from “science-driven innovation and entrepreneurship” to “science and religion” questions. Indeed, one of the earliest series of articles that have been posted is one by Dr. Osama himself titled “Islam Analysis”; nine installments have appeared, on topics such as “S&T ministerial body [COMSTECH] needs a revival” and “Muslim countries need a ‘forward bloc’”.


How does the project propose to pursue its ambitious program? First it invites readers to contribute articles to the Editorial Committee. Secondly, and more importantly, it has posted a “Call for Action” where a more specific plan is outlined, including joining a mailing list (‘Muslim-Science’), a “Muslim Scientists, Technologists, and Innovators’ Network” of professionals and graduate students from around the world, people who are interested in actively pursuing tasks such as:

• Helping identify research opportunities, fellowships, funding, etc.


• Developing linkages between expatriate researchers and those working within Muslim countries;


• Carrying out a dialogue between scientists and innovators from within the Muslim world and beyond about the state of science and technology in Muslim countries and how it could be improved.

I would like to also point out a series of “country spotlights on science and innovation” that Muslim-Science.Com plans to run; indeed, the first such special issue, looking at Malaysia, has just been published.

It includes:

- Editorial: Malaysia - Escape Velocity

- Profiles in Leadership: Dr. Omar Abdur Rahman, Mahathir's Science Advisor for more than 15 years

- Malaysia: Time to put plans into actions by Natalie Day and Amran Mohammad

- Innovation: Malaysian Technology Development Corporation's experiences in developing a venture capital industry

- Science Policy: The Right Model for Innovation - Royal Society's Atlas Report on Malaysia

- Science: Malaysia's Sputnik Moment by Dato Zakri Abdul Hamid

- Collaboration: Tapping into Global Expertise to Advance Malaysia's Science and Innovation Agenda by Dr. A. H. Zakri

I haven’t read much of this, but I plan to do so and to come back to this here in a few weeks.

This first special country spotlight will be followed by others, including Pakistan later this year and Egypt, Jordan, and Qatar planned for 2012.

There will also be a series of “Special Topical Issues” designed to bring into focus some of the most critical issues and capabilities across the Islamic world.

I wish this ambitious project the fullest success, and I hope it will be joined and supported by many people, anyone interested in the state of Science in the Muslim world, whether on conceptual grounds or for practical reasons.

I am super excited to say I have found the Eric Carle wall stickers from Target. Much to my surprise... all I had to do was call and ask if they were in stock. Oh, do I have some pretty big plans for these! 

by Salman Hameed

I have an article in today's Express Tribune. It is unfortunately titled The Science of Scriptures - but in actuality it is a critique of those who try to find scientific miracles in scriptures (I'jaz - in the particular instance of the Qur'an). Nidhal also had an excellent post about it last year: Critiquing I'jaz - The claim of 'scientific miracles in the Qur'an' and he also has a chapter in his book Islam's Quantum Question: Reconciling Muslim Tradition with Modern Science. Here is my take on the relation between science and religion and on the topic of I'jaz (read from the Express Tribune directly)

Science, Religion, and the Building of Scientific Culture in Pakistan

Salman Hameed

What is the relation between science and religion? This is an important question. The world we inhabit today is shaped by modern science and its practical applications. The way we perceive nature is deeply informed by our understanding of the vastness of the cosmos and the complexities of the sub-atomic worlds as revealed by science. At the same time, religion is an integral part of Pakistani society, and shapes the identity of millions of its citizens. For a place like Pakistan, both science and religion are essential.

It is no surprise then that the question of the relation between science and religion often comes up in conversations. From a historical perspective, there is no single narrative that defines this relation. There have been times when religious authorities  stymied science. On other occasions, holy books have provided the inspiration, and religious institutions the support, to help discover the secrets of the universe. There have been religious scientists: Ibn al-Shattir was a muwaqqit at a mosque in Damascus, Mendel was a priest. And there have been scientists who have been vocal in their opposition to religion. Thus, it is hard to define the relation between science and religion in any other way than complex.

In Pakistan today, there seems to be consensus that science and religion are not opposed to each other. This signals a positive approach, as Pakistan needs to develop a strong scientific culture to meet the challenges of the 21st century. However, for a large majority, this view is shaped by the pseudoscience of finding scientific miracles in the Qur’an (also known as I’jaz). This is neither good science nor good religion! If many of our bright, young minds are being introduced to science this way, then the practice of I’jaz is perhaps a major impediment to the development of a vibrant scientific culture in Pakistan.
Science is driven by curiosity about the natural world. Unsolved problems attract the attention of its practitioners. The harder the problem, the more attention it gets.

For example, one of the hottest areas in astronomy today is exploring the nature of “dark matter” — we know it exists but we cannot see it, nor does it interact with ordinary matter. Some of the brightest minds are searching for dark matter in the largest particle accelerators in the world as well as in observatories looking for evidence in large galaxy clusters. We do not know when or where we will find the evidence. It is also possible (though unlikely) that someone will show that dark matter does not exist and that our inference about its existence was deeply flawed. Science will go wherever evidence will take it.

On the other hand, those who are seeking scientific miracles in the Qur’an are driven neither by curiosity about the natural world nor by the desire to find explanations of unsolved problems. Instead, they know that they already know the answer. For them, the primary goal is to seek validity of one’s own belief through the authority of science.

This search for science in scriptures is a relatively new phenomenon. It is the religious response to the advent of modernity and the rise of modern science as the most powerful method for explaining the natural world. Muslims are not alone in seeking validity from science. Christians find science in the New Testament, Jews find it in the Torah, Hindus find it in Bhagavad Gita, and Mormons find it in the Book of Mormon. Everyone is convinced that their holy book contains snippets of modern science. Take the specific case of dark matter: you can find websites and even books that claim that dark matter is already mentioned in the Qur’an (for Muslims), the Bible (for Christians), the Torah (for Jews), and Bhagavad Gita (for Hindus). Of course, everyone will be scrambling to change his or her respective interpretations if the dark matter idea turns out to be wrong.

Make no mistake. None of this is science.

It is ironic that when medieval Muslim scholars dominated natural philosophy (what we may loosely call science today), they did not seek ‘scientific miracles’ in the Qur’an. Instead, the Qur’an served as an inspiration to understand the natural world through reason.

So what can we do to rekindle the spirit of scientific culture in Pakistan? This is a large question, but we can take the small step of appreciating the joy of finding things out. From the condensation of water into rain here on Earth, to the detection of lakes of liquid methane on the Saturn’s moon, Titan. From understanding the way leaves change colours in the winter, to figuring out the how stars form in galaxies.

Science seeks answers about how the universe works. Religion provides inspiration to explore the natural world. The late American biologist Stephen J Gould called science and religion two equal but separate spheres of life, or Non-overlapping Magisteria, in his own words. The former deals with the physical world and the latter with questions of ethics and the meaning of life. The building blocks of a scientific culture in Pakistan will have to be laid upon this mutual respect and separation of these two vital spheres of life.

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, August 28^th,  2011.

After working on assessments and identifying that I have lots of work to do on letter identification and letter and sound relationships I decided to make Mr. Crunch. I plan on using Mr. Crunch a lot of letter and sound sorts during small groups and also during some circle time activities. I found the mini trash can at Dollar Tree and painted it with Krylon black paint. I found a package of google eyes at Dollar Tree as well. His name and polka dots came from here...

I ordered them from her store and I was able to tell her exactly what I wanted for my cute little Mr. Crunch. The letters and polka dots were great quality, vibrant colored adhesive vinyl. I love these so much that I am ordering other stickers for my next project.

If you are in need of cookies to feed your cute Mr. Crunch, I have a set available for you in my TpT store. This download is packed full of cookie fun! If you do not want to make your Mr. Crunch, you can use the cookies to sort on paper plates or cookie trays! The download includes 43 pages of cookies to sort by letter and shape attributes, upper and lowercase, numbers to 30, 2 sets of fonts, 3 sets of a-z beginning sounds and syllable sorts! I hope you have some cookie fun and a great week!

Spirals are on sale AGAIN at Staples. You can get your spirals for 9 cents with a five dollar purchase. This is a perfect deal if you do not have enough for the year or you need more spirals for another project. I totally LOVE YOU STAPLES!  

 

This week theme for Sharing Sundays is not a type of food but a COLOR........................................RED!  We thought it would be fun to see how many recipes everyone could come up with that were RED.  So you can post any recipes that contain red items like Strawberries, Marinara Sauce, Red Peppers, Tomatoes, Raspberries, etc.  Maybe we can take the next several weeks and try to do all the colors of the rainbow?
Our Rules:
1.  Please become a follower of our blog.
2.  Please share a link back to your actual recipe post, not to your main blog page.
3.  Please link back to our blog so others can join in the fun.
4.  Leave us a comment about what recipe you are linking up.
5. Have fun!

Now let's see the featured MEXICAN recipes from last week

Chicken Tequito Enchiladas by Cooking with K


Chicken Quesadillas by The Kitchen Cookie


Fire Roasted Tomato and Chicken Tortilla Soup
by Cook Lisa Cook

Chili Con Queso by Jam Hands

Margarita Cake Ball Truffles by The Kitchen is my Playground

Frozen Pina Colada Pie by Carolynn's Recipe Box

I have been working assessments since the very first day of school. I am using a new tool for assessments called ESGI. I have also been working with my children on our traditional assessments we have used for years in our district. I have to say so far I have had a very positive experience with ESGI software and the data it has provided me with has had a huge impact on my lesson planning and small group planning within the first week of school. First, I love the fact that it is user friendly and faster to test rather than sitting down with the traditional assessment forms and pencil. Second, I think the classroom data it provides is EYE OPENING because of the easy format the information is presented in. I really like the ways in which I can view the class or individual data and I sure enjoy not having to take my paper and pencil assessments and create graphs of information on my own. 

As I continue to use ESGI I am looking forward to utilizing the individualized print resources for RTI and as a resource to send home activities based on the particular needs of each child individually. This truly is data driven instruction when the tools are utilized.  

I just wanted to let everyone know that some of the freebie items on my TpT store will be removed due to recent information I have learned about graphics and artists agreements. It has been a busy week in the teacher blogging world and with all of that business a tad bit of controversy comes with it. I am happy to say I am out of the loop on most of the buzz in blogland because I have been busy with the first week of school. I also wanted to let everyone know that I am going to begin working on a new system to share teaching blog buttons so that you will have an opportunity to link up under particular grade levels. Although this year starts off with a bit of a rocky start... I am still super excited to share with you the excitement that Kindergarten can bring.

Sudah lama saya tidak menyampaikan ceramah umum yang melibatkan audiens ramai. Lebih-lebih lagi dari kalangan wanita. Baru-baru ini saya dijemput untuk mengisi di Kolej Kejururawatan Kota Bharu, Kelantan. Kesemua pesertanya adalah perempuan. Lebih kurang 120 orang peserta jumlahnya.

Dan tajuk perkongsian adalah: Cinta dan Kehidupan

Namun ada sesuatu yang berbeza yang berlaku pada pengisian kali ini. Apakah itu? Kalau nak tahu kena bacalah! (^_^).

Inilah kali pertama saya berceramah kepada golongan wanita setelah pernikahan. Sejak daripada 5 Februari 2011 lepas, saya cuma banyak berkongsi dalam halaqoh dan tazkirah-tazkirah umum bersama junior-junior di surau-surau.

Pada mulanya agak keberatan untuk menyampaikan, kerana merasa diri tidak bersedia dan sebagainya, namun langkahan tetap diorak dan bumi Kelantan dijejaki.

Ceramah berkisar terus tentang cinta. Ramai yang bercinta. Namun, adakah mereka bercinta dengan benar?

Saya banyak membahaskan bagaimana mencari cinta yang sebenar, yang telahpun disebutkan oleh pengerusi majlis yakni Cinta Allah. Ramai yang TAHU bahawa itu Cinta Allah itulah cinta sebenarnya, namun tidak ramai yang FAHAM bagaimana untuk mengaplikasikannya dalam kehidupan.

Saya banyak membahaskan apa yang terkandung dalam artikel saya: Cinta Itu.

Dan seperti biasa, bila muncul soal cinta, pasti ramai yang tertanya-tanya bolehkah kita ber'couple'? Dan itu juga saya bahaskan seperti yang tertulis dalam artikel sulung saya: Nak Ber'couple' Boleh Tak?

Saya memulakan dengan menanyakan sebuah soalan keramat:

"Sebenarnya ber'couple' ni boleh ke tak?"

Ramai yang tersenyum-senyum. Ada yang kelihatan selamba, tiada perubahan riak muka. Namun masih kelihatan ramai yang tidak berpuas hati dengan penjelasan saya. Mungkin kerana hati masih berat untuk menerimanya. Lalu tibalah masanya untuk saya sebagai orang yang pernah berada di 'dua alam' (pernah ber'couple' dan melepasinya, dan kini telahpun selamat mendirikan rumah tangga) untuk menyampai sedikit perkongsian.

"Saya sebenarnya dulu bukannya seorang yang baik pun. Saya pun pernah bercinta sebelum nikah, ataupun ber'couple'. Setahun setengah lamanya. Sejak awal tahun tingkatan empat sehingga pertengahan tahun di tingkatan 5. Lalu tibalah saatnya saya membuat putaran 180 darjah dalam hidup saya. Mula mengambil Islam secara keseluruhannya. Semuanya berlaku setelah saya menghadiri Kem Kecemerlangan SPM 2006."

Saya berkongsi dengan hadirin perubahan saya yang telahpun saya nukilkan dalam artikel saya: Maafkan Aku.

"Lalu saya terus mengalami perubahan, namun masih ber'couple' secara 'Islami'. Sehingga saya bertemu dengan seorang ikhwah yang menerangkan kepada saya hakikat tentang 'couple' itu. Saya dah kongsikan semuanya dalam blog saya. Tajuknya, Untukmu. Cerpen sulung saya."

"Pada mulanya memang berat saya rasakan untuk meninggalkannya. Namun saya tetap mengambil keputusan itu kerana saya risau, apakah saya akan mempunyai kekuatan untuk meninggalkanya di masa hadapan? Lalu dengan sepenuh hati, saya menaip sms terakhir itu dan mengakhirinya. Terasa seperti separuh kehidupan saya telah pergi. Namun, ternyata saya masih hidup elok hingga saat ini. Elok je. Dah nikah pun, malah bakal mempunyai seorang anak pada tahun hadapan. Mohon doanya."

Saya terus menyampaikan, dan di saat inilah saya menyedari yang ianya berbeza. Apakah ia? Sebentar lagi saya cerita.

"Dan apa yang saya boleh katakan, percintaan selepas pernikahan merupakan mempunyai sesuatu yang tidak dapat dirasakan seperti dahulu. Ketenteraman jiwa. Kalau kita bercinta dengan dia yang tidak punya apa-apa ikatan yang jelas dengan kita, apakah hubungan antara kita dengan dia? Dia masih sahaja boleh mencari orang lain. Jika dia berjumpa dengan seseorang yang lebih cantik atau kaya daripada kita, dia boleh meninggalkan kita. Tiada apa-apa jaminan.Namun bercinta dengan isteri, dia hanya untuk kita. Jaminannya sudah jelas."

"Namun ada yang berkata, orang yang bercinta inipun akan bernikah juga akhirnya. Akan mendirikan rumah tangga mereka. Ya, saya setuju. Mereka akan menikah. Tetapi akan timbul satu lagi permasalahan. Kalau dahulunya rumah tangga yang didirikan berasaskan kemurkaan Allah, larangan dan hukum Allah dilanggar berani dilanggar, dosa-dosa serta maksiat hati tidak dijaga. Berani menghantar SMS cinta dan keluar bersama. Kini setelah menikah, apakah jaminannya si dia akan terus setia kepada kita? Apakah jaminannya apabila kita berjauhan, si dia akan tetap menjaga kesucian dirinya?"

"Kalau saya, saya cukup yakin dengan isteri saya. Kalau siapa yang tidak tahu, isteri saya yang tercinta itu namanya Atifah. Dia kini sedang berada jauh di Kuala Lumpur, menghadiri program untuk aktivis-aktivis perempuan. Saya pula berada Kelantan. Tapi saya amat yakin yang dia akan menjaga dirinya. Saya tak pernah risau kalau dia berjumpa dengan mana-mana lelaki lain yang lebih handsome atau kaya daripada saya.Kerana kami bernikah kerana Allah, di jalan Dakwah dan Tarbiyah. Kami sama-sama telah melalui proses tarbiyah yang mendidik kami untuk kekal menjaga kesucian diri sejak dari dahulu lagi. Kami sama-sama ditarbiyah untuk takutkan Allah SWT dan menjaga hak-hak-Nya walau di mana kami berada.  Dan ntuk pengetahuan anda semua, dia tak pernah bercinta dengan mana-mana lelakipun sebelum ini. Saya cinta pertamanya. Sungguh Allah SWT telah menghadiahkan saya seorang kekasih yang terbaik yang tidak pernah saya impikan."

"Kesimpulan yang saya nak sampaikan, tak mati pun kalau clash. Malah insya-Allah percaturan Allah SWT itu jauh lebih baik untuk kita. Saya contoh hidup untuk anda semua."

Sepenuh hati saya menyampaikan perkongsian itu. Teringat saat-saat saya mengambil keputusan untuk mengubah hidup saya. Saya tidak dapat bayangkan apa yang akan berlaku jika saya tidak berani mengambil keputusan tersebut. Sungguh percaturan Allah itu sungguh indah.

Dan anda semua masih tertanya-tanya apakah yang berbezanya itu? Baiklah, yang berbeza itu adalah:

Gejolak jiwa yang saya risaukan selama ini. Ia tiada lagi. Hati saya tenang untuk berkongsi dan berhadapan dengan mana-mana perempuanpun. Tidak seperti dahulu, saya sering terganggu dengan bayangan-bayangan yang tidak sepatutnya.

Dan ketika pulang menaiki motor ke rumah sewa Akhi Lemeq, saya menghantar SMS kepada kekasih tercinta.

"Saya baru habis mengisi program Akhwat KKKB. Walaupun ada banyak bidadari di hadapan saya tadi, tak ada seorangpun yang dapat menandingi bidadari hati saya yang seorang ini."

Menikahlah, jiwamu akan tenang!

~End Of Post~

And then of course we have Irene coming up:

But it is kinda a cool that we can see that the storm is coming. This is perhaps one of the best justifications for science. It used to be that such storms would hit and wipe out unsuspected populations. God was blamed (or given credit) for the destruction. Now, there are evacuations before the storm. It is not that there is no destruction - there still is, especially in earthquakes - but we are beginning to understand nature a lot more.

So while Irene is coming, I'm glad I'm living in the 21st century. A 100 years ago, we would have been fooled by this perfectly beautiful day today (despite the proverbial calm before the storm). On the other hand, 100 years from now, hopefully, we'll be able to diffuse hurricanes like these altogether. Oh - wait. This is the Enlightenment talking - a deep belief in human progress. Well - yes - then I do count myself as an optimist.

Bring it on Irene :)

And here is Neil Young for this weekend:

Banana recipe #4!  This is a really good one.  These cookies are totally delicous and easy to make.  They are very soft and cake like.  I was able to get them crispier by putting them in the toaster oven and toasting them for a few minutes after they completely cooled.  They were really yummy like that.  I also used slivered almonds instead of sliced almonds in the batter because that is what I had on hand but I think it would be better with the sliced almonds that way you don't get a big chunk of almond when you bite into the cookie.  I will definitely be making these again.

Ingredients:

2 over-ripe bananas
1/2 cup blanched almonds
1 stick butter (4 ounces), room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

1 cup of quick cook oatmeal
1/2 cup sliced almonds (I used slivered because that's what I had)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375º.  In a food processor, pulse the blanched almonds with 1/2 cup sugar until almonds are finely ground.  Cream butter with remaining 1/4 cup sugar.  Then add the ground almonds.  Whip until thoroughly mixed.  Beat in eggs, then add mashed bananas.  Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Mix the dry ingredients into the batter.  When the flour has been completely incorporated, stir in the oatmeal and sliced almonds.

Using two tablespoons, drop the batter onto parchment lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart.  Bake for 6 to 8 minutes.  Remove from the oven and cool on wire racks.

Linked to Sweets for Saturday
Linked to Melt in your Mouth Monday

To read the content of this post, click on the link below:
http://www.inspiremeasap.blogspot.com/2011/08/first-test-of-school-year.html

What a super fun way to integrate Science and Health and incorporate observation with tools and notebooking.

Dear Ava:


I would tell you how much I will miss you when you start Kindergarten on Monday, but I know that will make you sad. So instead, I will just hug you tight and smile at you big and tell you how much you will love Kindergarten and how excited I am that you get to experience it. I will look you in the eye and keep you there until you believe it, too.  


You will love it, it is true.


But it is also true that I will miss you in the daytime. I will miss you in the noontime. And I will miss you those moments in between. 


As a very young girl, I considered time and its passage something to be mourned. I focused on the "never again will I's" rather than the, "oooh, what's coming next?". 


At first, having you in some ways made it worse.  But watching you grow and learning from your curiosity and general acceptance of "things" has made it much much better.


I now realize that time and its passage is something to be thankful for.


Thank you God for keeping us healthy and safe that I may be there to watch my daughter say her first word, take her first step, sing her first song, run her first race. Thank you for allowing me to see her first jump from the diving board and watch her fall asleep for her last summer nap.  


Thank you God for getting us to her first day of Kindergarten.


(And Ava, I hope you're not too upset that you're new backpack won't be here in time for school. But I have a feeling that using your old, familiar green one will be just fine with you.)


I love you. I can't wait to see what's next.

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Cara menggunakannya pun terbilang

A quick and easy hot lunch using ingredients that I typically have on hand. 

Ingredients:

Pizza dough

1/2 lb of sliced chicken breast

1 cup sliced heirloom tomatoes

1/4 lb of sliced cheddar cheese

olive oil

Italian seasoning

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375 F.  Roll out pizza dough into a rectangle on a greased cookie sheet.  Brush a little olive oil on the dough.   Sprinkle the top of dough with about 1 teaspoon of italian seasoning.  Starting at the bottom of dough (closest to you) put a single layer of sliced chicken breast.  Then above that in the middle of the dough add a layer of tomatoes.  Lastly on the top portion of the dough add a single layer of sliced cheddar cheese.  Starting back at the bottom of the dough roll the dough upward folding in all the ingredients.  Once the dough is completely rolled up place is seam side down on the greased cookie sheet.  Brush the top of the dough roll up with olive oil and sprinkle the top with 1/2 teaspoon (give or take) of italian seasoning.  Bake at 375 for about 18-20 minutes until the dough is browned all over.  Remove from oven, let stand for about 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

Pretty Tomatoes!

by Salman Hameed

I have to admit up front. I went to see Another Earth with reasonably high expectations. I had an idea that the sci-fi element is not the central component of the film. Nevertheless, I went in to see some exploration of the implications of a mirror earth. I enjoyed the film watching it. However, my impression of it has fallen considerably in the last few days. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I dislike the film. The problem is that the movie wants to be more than it really is. It wants to pretend that it is asking some deep philosophical questions. In fact, it is an average, indie, psychological drama - which would be totally fine, if it didn't pretend otherwise. But the movie was also a darling at Sundance Film Festival, and even won the Alfred P. Sloan prize for the best science-themed film. May be the jury did not get a chance to think about the film for a few days.

Here are a few comments without any spoilers (no more than what is already revealed in the trailer). I think this is decent small budget film and you should go out and see it. The movie starts with a young women celebrating her admission to the astrophysics program at MIT. The same day, we discover a mirror planet - not simply as a terrestrial body, but it also has the same people up there. You can set plausibility issues aside for a moment, as this is a premise that can lead to fascinating questions. On her way back from the celebrations, being drunk, the young women slams into into another car, killing a young child and his mother, and sending the dad into a prolonged coma.

The remainder of the film deals with her coping with her actions. This accident fundamentally altered the direction of her life (and the direction of the surviving father of the other family). Did she have a choice? On another world, could she have not driven drunk after the party? What kind of life and what kind of a persons would have resulted from different choices?

My problem with the movie is that the entire story could have been told without any mention of Earth 2 (the name used for the mirror Earth). The absence of the Earth 2 gimmick would not have made any difference whatsoever. The presence of it, however, raised intriguing possibilities that the filmmakers did not incorporate into the screenplay. And that is a shame.

Now it would also have been okay to leave Earth 2 as is - and simply leave it in the background. But the filmmakers do have a number of radio voices (of scientists, philosophers) talking about the philosophical conundrums of this mirror planet. Okay - so then incorporate some of these fascinating puzzles into the screenplay. Place one of the characters in a situation where they have to address some of these philosophical challenges. But no - the filmmakers do not go in this direction. Instead, it seems, that the exposition is there to make the movie sound more significant than it really is. Sorry - this is no Solaris or even Moon. There is a better movie to be made on this premise - but this is not it.

But then there are two other things that really bugged me. One is the heavy use of obvious metaphors. I mean, a Wii boxing game is one thing, but to keep on telling that "you've got to stand-up", "you've got to fight for yourself" etc, was just an overkill. And there were many more - including the presence of Earth 2 as well.

The second thing that really bothered me was bad history. The movie is written by smart people. Apart from using the premise of Earth 2, which is an artistic license for the premise, rest of the science discussions are okay in the film. But then it brings up the worst cliche's from history of science: That at the time of Columbus, most people believed that the Earth was flat (nope - not true. This is like saying that most people in the 21st century believed that the Earth is less than 10,000 years old. Yes, some people believe this nonsense - but a vast majority does not. It was the same about the notion of flat Earth at the time of Columbus). Sailing cultures definitely could see the curvature of the Earth over the horizon, and we can trace the efforts to measure the circumference of the Earth to at least 1st century C.E. Oh - and then there is the obligatory misstatement about Galileo. This time he was close to being burnt at the stake! (he was imprisoned in his house for vehement suspicion of heresy. Not a good thing for sure - but far from a burning stake. Plus, this was a complex case based on whether he violated what he had promised to do or not). There are couple of other silly historical slips in the film. It is just a shame that when filmmakers are making an effort to get the science right, why not pay some attention to history of science as well, and not promote the entrenched misconceptions.

Phew! I got it out of my system. So let me get back to some positive things about the film.

Another Earth does have good acting and some of the dramatic tensions are quite effective. The movie would have been far better off without bringing up Earth 2. But the filmmakers definitely have a lot of potential and this effort was done with a shoestring budget. I think we are going to see more of Mike Cahill (who co-wrote the film and directed it) and the stunningly beautiful lead actress and co-writer, Brit Marling. Oh - and the artwork of Earth 2 from our evening skies is quite spectacular!

Here is the trailer for Another Earth (Caution: The trailer lays out pretty much most of the story - and it even makes it more interesting than the movie itself. If you are like me and want to see films with minimum of story information, then skip the trailer.).



By the way, there is a 1969 European film called Doppleganger or Journey to the Far Side of the Sun. I watched it in Pakistan some time in the early 80s. It has the same idea of the mirror earth, but then it explores that concept a bit more. I don't remember if this a good movie or not, but at the time I liked any sci-fi film on TV. I remember that its ending was quite fascinating (I'll let you discover it yourself). 

I think this is one of best brief justifications for astronomy and space sciences. Yes, it is hard to place a monetary value at tomorrow's dreams. Enjoy!

Sebenarnya ini trik udah lama banget. Tapi ada juga sih yang nyari-nyari keyword Cara Membuat Efek Zoom Image Pada Blog.Buktinya ada juga yang nyasar baca artikel ini kan :) Ya udah sekarang saya kasih deh trik nya dari pada kecewa, iya gak ?

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If you can believe I STILL have a lot of very ripe bananas in my freezer to use.  So this is recipe #3.  This is a delicous chocolate banana cupcake recipe.  The frosting is very sweet and although I think it goes well with the cupcake next time I think I'll try a peanut butter frosting which I think would taste even better! 

Ingredients:

CUPCAKES:
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 1 med sized banana)
1/2 cup warm water
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

FROSTING
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 cup cream cheese, softened (I used fat free)
1/2 jar of marshmallow creme (Fluff)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 package (8 oz) powdered sugar
1 tablespoon of milk (for stiffer frosting leave the milk out)

Preparation:

CUPCAKES:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 12 regular-sized muffin cups with paper liners or spray each cup with non stick vegetable spray. In a large bowl whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  In another large bow; whisk together egg, mashed banana, water, milk, oil and vanilla extract.  Add the wet ingredieints to the dry ingredients and stir, or whisk until combined. (The batter will be pretty thin).  Pour the batter into the muffin cups, about 3/4 full, and bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of cupcake comes out clean.  Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.

FROSTING:
Combine all ingredients and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.  Refergerate for 30 minutes and beat again before frosting cooled cupcakes.

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Just stopping by to give a warm welcome to so many new followers. I am very excited to be able to share a year of Kindergarten with you.

This is a weekly post by Nidhal Guessoum (see his earlier posts here). Nidhal is an astrophysicist and Professor of Physics at American University of Sharjah and is the author of Islam's Quantum Question: Reconciling Muslim Tradition and Modern Science.
A very interesting study of the evolution of socio-religious attitudes of French Muslims over the past two decades was recently produced by IFOP (the leading French market research and opinion poll institute) for La Croix, the French catholic daily. It reviews surveys conducted on the whole French population between 1989 and 2011 (March) where each time the Muslim sub-population could be identified and its viewpoints could be compared to those of the general population. In total, over 4000 people who present themselves as ‘Muslim’ were queried, and the uncertainties over the tallied responses is estimated at a few percent.

The ‘Muslim’ label is of course an ambiguous one, and the report is careful to distinguish and categorize people of that “social” group into 3 sub-groups: A) believing and practicing Muslims (41% in 2011); B) believing (but not “practicing”) Muslims (34 % in 2011); C) of Muslim origin (22 % in 2011). In fact, it does so by asking respondents to identify themselves as belonging to one of these groups. It later correlates this self-labeling with the practices and attitudes that the respondents are asked about and finds that “being a practicing Muslim” correlates most strongly with two practices: praying each day and going to the mosque on Friday. Other practices, e.g. fasting in Ramadan, do(es) not make people declare themselves as “practicing Muslims”.

Here below are the highlights (for me) and some comments:

• Praying daily, after dropping from 41 % to 31 % between 1989 and 1994, has increased steadily to 39 %; likewise for going to the mosque on Friday, which has increased to 25 % (one must recall that Friday is a working day in France), particularly among the youth, increasing from 7 % to 23 %. (La Croix points out that only 5 % of French Catholics go to church at least once a month.) Another small surprise (for me) is that unlike the case in much of the Muslim world where the Friday prayer at the mosque remains largely a male activity, in France 16 % of (practicing) Muslim women do that, compared to 35 % of (practicing) Muslim men.

• Fasting in Ramadan provided another surprise for me: 71 % of respondents declare fasting the whole month, with an additional 9 % doing it “some days”. The percentage of those stating openly that they do not fast has decreased from 32 to 20 %. In France, considering various social factors, this is quite impressive.

• Alcohol drinking has also decreased from 39 to 32 % – with only 22 % of women, compared to 44 % of men.

• Consumption of halal food (meat and products containing meat or extracts from islamically slaughtered animals) is quite high, though the surveys do not go back far enough for any time trend to be identified: 59 % of respondents stated that they “systematically” buy halal meat and products, with an additional 15 % saying that they do “most of the time”.

• Women wearing headscarves (the “veil”, as the French refer to it) regularly represent 26 % of “practicing Muslim women”, with an additional 6 % doing it sometimes or rarely. Most interestingly, the practice is still much stronger among older women: 30 % of those 50 years or more, 16 % of the 35-50 year-olds, and 8 % of those less than 35 years old (for the regular wearers).

• The survey asked Muslim women the extent to which they would accept seeing their daughters marry a non-Muslim man. Predictably, the answers varied tremendously among those who define themselves as “practicing”, “believing (but ‘not practicing’)”, and “of Muslim origin”. Full acceptance was: 29 %, 56 %, and 76 %. Reluctance/unhappiness: 27 %, 30 %, and 17 %. A spectrum of other opinions were also expressed.

The report, in powerpoint-style pages of graphs and histograms, can be found (in French) here.
I’ll be very interested to hear readers’ comments, particularly those who live in western lands.