Who has controlled the Middle East over the course of history? The flash movie/map below sums it up. I have not tried to confirm the accuracy of the historical timelines, but I like the visual way it presents the data.

Source: Maps of War

Billed as the smallest dice in the world, each one measures 0.3 x 0.3 x 0.3 mm (for perspective, see the photo above showing one of the die next to a 0.5-mm diameter mechanical pencil lead). The tiny dice are painstakingly crafted one by one from BsBm (brass) in a 9 hour long fabrication process that relies on the latest in micromachining technology. Each one weighs 0.00016 grams and the pips measure 0.05 mm in diameter. While the 100,275 yen (US$870) price tag includes a special case and the cost of shipping, it does not include the price of the microscope you will need to make sure nobody cheats at the craps table in your flea circus casino.

Source: Tanomi.com

Tomorrow 29th March 2006 will have a partial solar eclipse in Jordan & a full eclipse in some areas like egypt, turkey, etc.

Whether people feel pessimistic or optimistic about the eclipse, it will be an event that many would like to watch!

I have found this live link (Webcam) which will feature live motion pictures of the eclipse from turkey, directly from the satelite.
Regarding Jordan, the eclipse of the sun will start at 11:45 AM Amman time, it will traverses half the earth, the eclipse will first appear in Brazil and from there extend to across north Africa and Asia.

We should be careful from looking at the sun directly during the eclipse period; and wear special glasses to protect the eyes from sun rays.

enjoy!

Live Web Coverage of the 2006 Total Eclipse

Nasa Article

Thanks Rami for giving me ideas also in this post!

Some People wont stop utilizing even most worse human tragedies to their own benefit. Last example was what we have seen from robberies in Hurricane Katrina and before that in Iraq, etc.

Lately, I have received this circular from one of my friends in Abu Dhabi. The paper is a circular sent to ADNOC Petrol Company employees. It warns about some people who visits some houses pretending they are from Ministry of health; whom they want to give Bird Flu vaccine to the residents. Finally, They anaesthetise them & rob the house. It is clear that alot of cases happened, otherwise it wont needed that level of alert.

I found it is a good idea to warn people in Jordan before some groups start doing the same. Please spread this. I have even FW: this by email to my adress book contacts.

check the circular here

Time magazine has named Bill and Melinda Gates and rock star Bono its “Persons of the Year,” citing their charitable work and activism aimed at reducing global poverty and improving world health.

The magazine said 2005 was a year of extraordinary charity in which people donated record amounts in response to extreme natural disasters, from the tsunami in South Asia to Hurricane Katrina.

“Natural disasters are terrible things, but there is a different kind of ongoing calamity in poverty and nobody is doing a better job in addressing it in different ways than Bill and Melinda Gates and Bono,” said Jim Kelly, Time’s managing editor.

The 2005 “Person of the Year” package hits newsstands Monday.

“For being shrewd about doing good, for rewiring politics and reengineering justice, for making mercy smarter and hope strategic and then daring the rest of us to follow, Bill and Melinda Gates and Bono are Time’s Persons of the Year,” the magazine said.

Time praised the Gateses for building the world’s largest charity — The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has a $29 billion endowment — and for “giving more money away faster than anyone ever has” in 2005.

Source: USAToday.com

I think Bill & Melinda Gates, Bono deserve this title, for they have helped the world become a better a place in a way no other could do, and that unlike last year’s selection for person of the year George W Bush.