http://www.abbashalai.com Missing Mary Road Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:03:32 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en ever wonder what happened to the storm trooper outside the cantina? http://www.abbashalai.com/archives/1415 http://www.abbashalai.com/archives/1413 so here's my monthly linux plug of a post where i rant and rave about why people should be switching over. well here's a dude who goes through all the myths behind linux. (have to admit that hey may not be all that accurate in his points), but has covered ... http://www.abbashalai.com/archives/1412 Laces out, Dan! Laces out! It's all Dan Marino's fault that Lois Einhorn, I mean Ray Finkle, I mean Einhorn! http://www.abbashalai.com/archives/1411 Map of the day from National Geographic has a really neat (and zoomable) fictional map of the Marvelous Land of Oz, illustrated by James E. Haff and Dick Martin for the International Wizard of Oz Club (apparently there is such a thing) based on L. Frank Baum’s books The Wizard ... http://www.abbashalai.com/archives/1410 Explanation: Is that a black hole? Quite possibly. The Cygnus X-1 binary star system contains one of the best candidates for a black hole. The system was discovered because it is one of the brightest X-ray sources on the sky, shining so bright it was detected by the earliest rockets ... http://www.abbashalai.com/archives/1409 Justice Navanethem Pillay, High Commissioner Dr. Kyung-wha Kang, Deputy High Commissioner Ms. Gay McDougall, Independent Expert on minority issues Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights United Nations Palais des Nations CH-1211 Geneva 10 Switzerland Subject: Humanitarian Crisis in Jammu and Kashmir August 12, 2008 Dear Justice Pillay, Dr. Kang, Ms. McDougall: We write to bring to your attention the ... http://www.abbashalai.com/archives/1408 Amid growing insecurity and economic crisis, Pakistan's government decides to impeach the president Pakistan is sliding. Taliban commanders are taking over more of the country's ungoverned north-west by the day. From there they launch attacks into Afghanistan, killing NATO soldiers and countless Afghans. America, hitherto a remarkably forgiving ally, appears to ... http://www.abbashalai.com/archives/1407 http://www.abbashalai.com/archives/1405 Scientists study hearing in polar bears as the Arctic acoustic environment changes.  As global warming melts Arctic ice and pressure mounts for oil exploration, scientists worry that increasing noise might interfere with polar bear reproduction. In the frozen tundra on the northern edge of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in ... http://www.abbashalai.com/archives/1404 According to the BBC Urdu, the FBI has conceded that Dr. Afia Siddiqi who had vanished from Karachi over five years ago in March 2003 along with her children is in the custody of American forces in Afghanistan but sadly in a horrid medical condition. The information comes from BBC, when ... http://www.abbashalai.com/archives/1403 Islam's in the news a lot lately, but usually put in the context in a negative spotlight lately it seems. Even less do you ever hear it in the same context with science fiction. A friend has been quietly collecting and creating an anthology of islamic science fiction over the ... http://www.abbashalai.com/archives/1402 The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a 27 kilometer (17 mile) long particle accelerator straddling the border of Switzerland and France, is nearly set to begin its first particle beam tests. The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) is preparing for its first small tests in early August, leading to a ... http://www.abbashalai.com/archives/1401 http://www.abbashalai.com/archives/1400 This month's announcement of a back-room deal between ISPs (internet service providers) and the big record companies to spy on suspected copyright infringers and reduce the quality of their internet connections is just the latest paragraph in the record industry's long, self-pitying suicide note, and it's left me wishing they'd ... http://www.abbashalai.com/archives/1399 As night was falling across the Americas on Sunday, August 28, 1859, the phantom shapes of the auroras could already be seen overhead. From Maine to the tip of Florida, vivid curtains of light took the skies. Startled Cubans saw the auroras directly overhead; ships' logs near the equator described ... http://www.abbashalai.com/archives/1398 Exxon Mobil Corp. said its second-quarter net income rose 14% as record oil prices once again yielded a new high in quarterly profits for a U.S. company The world's biggest non-government oil company had net income of $11.68 billion, or $2.22 a share, up from $10.26 billion, or $1.83 a share, ... http://www.abbashalai.com/archives/1397 Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall free me." ―The Code of the Sith[src] http://www.abbashalai.com/archives/1396 Volatile India-Pakistan Standoff Enters 11,680th Day http://www.abbashalai.com/archives/1395 DC held out till the very end of Comic-Con to drop its biggest bit of news: Neil Gaiman is returning to the publisher for a two-issue Batman series with artist Andy Kubert. Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? will serve as a transition point between Batman R.I.P. and whatever comes next. ... http://www.abbashalai.com/archives/1394