Virus Attack

It has become some kind of a trend over the last few months, that our personal computers are being attacked by viruses of all sorts, to an extent that some of my friends have been affected 3 times already. And as I'm typing this post, my computer is again, officially under attack from another virus, of which I'm unfamiliar with, called VirusRemover 2008. What the heck.

The previous virus that infected my computer was because I clicked on some warnings (which I foolishly thought was from Windows). But this time, it happened rather suddenly. No clicking on any warnings this time. And this bloody virus is closing my yahoo messenger, my itunes, opening random attacked sites on my mozilla firefox and opening internet explorer. What else would it do? Well, it's too early to figure that out yet, but we'll see. In the mean time, Arep, SOS!

A New Era Begins

Today was officially the first day of Barack Obama as the forty-forth President of the United States of America. Today was President Barack Obama's Inauguration day. And today, 'the world has changed,'.


What a day it turned out to be.

Americans, of all walks of life, near and far, gathered around the capital to share a moment of history. Gathering up to two miles off U.S Capitol at the Lincoln Memorial, people braved the cold winter month of January, and still felt, as much as any where else, part of the grand event.

Others who couldn't make it to D.C fought off internet traffic in attempts to watch the Inauguration video online. The online video of the Inauguration set records in internet traffic as millions tried to gain its access. The overwhelming demand meant most had to settle down for other means of media to witness the coverage. Some of the luckier ones managed to get glimpses of frozen images of what what was going on.

The frenzy doesn't stop there. The Inauguration also prompted more than a million status updates on Facebook. Read more about that here. People all over wore shirts bearing support for the new president. Read other interesting stories of Inauguration Day events here, here, here, and here. Or heck, just Google it.

So as America, and practically the whole world, nurse the hangover from such a historical and significant event, the question arises: How long will the Obama honeymoon last, if there is to actually be one, of course. Will the economy spring back to life?, will the world change it's views on America?, will the wars stop?, will there be more stability in America?, and etc. Just how much time are the people willing to wait to see these changes?


And as Muslims, one of our greatest hopes for this new President is to resolve the matter in Palestine. Will he have the guts and courage to go the extra distance in finding a resolution to finally stop the blood bath in the Holy Land? He is the closest a president can be to a Muslim without actually being one. If he won't do it, no one will.

Like he always says, 'Change has come to America,'. Let's now hope that he can bring that change to the world. Read his Inauguration speech here.

My Last Stand

So here it is people. My final stand. My finale. My final semester as an undergraduate student here at Vanderbilt. It a few months time, what's left would be memories, and I, an alum. Pray for me, please.

Al- Fatihah

This post is a tribute to a very great man, who was a stern teacher, a father, a grandfather, and a great grandfather. This very great man passed away around 6 pm, on the very last day of 2008. This great man, was my grandfather. His name was Mohammad bin Awang.

This was the last picture I have with him, taken back during my sister's wedding celebration in Kelantan last August. He had been bed ridden for at least 2 years now. But his condition deteriorated greatly since the last I met him in 2006. He was almost all bones. I knew he didn't have much time back then, and one of my greatest fears was that I wouldn't make it in time for him.

I've had some fond memories of my grandfather, of which we call Ayoh. I remember that he used to be very stern, and we grand kids were scared of him. But we loved him, and admired him for who he was. He was an ustaz and taught Arabic at a nearby surau. And everytime the sound of the his passola came to our ears, as if a signal, calling us grandkids to the door waiting for his return. For each time he returned, there was always icecream and snacks for us. He would occasionally joke that he didn't have anything for us, and if we didn't know him any better, with that very stern look, we would've believed him.

And now that he's gone, what's left on my part is regrets. Regrets that I didn't use my time when I was back in KB to be with him. That I didn't look after him, that I didn't hold his hand long enough, that I didn't make much contact with him. And now all those times with him are only memories, and everytime I go back to Kelantan and pass through Lorong Mohammad Sibawaih, I'll remember the legacy Ayoh has left behind.

Al- Fatihah. May you rest in peace and that Allah makes it easy for you in the here after. Ameen.