Alone

From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were; I have not seen
As others saw; I could not bring
My passions from a common spring.
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow; I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone;
And all I loved, I loved alone.
Then - in my childhood, in the dawn
Of a most stormy life - was drawn
From every depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still:
From the torrent, or the fountain,
From the red cliff of the mountain,
From the sun that round me rolled
In its autumn tint of gold,
From the lightning in the sky
As it passed me flying by,
From the thunder and the storm,
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view. 

Edgar Allen Poe.

Credits here.

My Name Is Red

Mainly for the reason that I have been slightly less disciplined in my leisure reading this past twelve months (though I have picked up other reads in between), it took me a year to read My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk (translated by Erdağ Gökna).  The book itself is one where you must concentrate because each chapter of the story is told by one of the characters - a technique that those who have read Bram Stoker will be familiar with. 

I have to say that despite my lack of continuity, I never did lose the thread with the book, so it is, on the whole very well written. It couldn't get better for me - the central character in this book is someone called Black (wink).

The story takes place in Istanbul during 16th Century Ottoman reign over nine winter days and is a murder mystery set amid the world of the miniaturists. There's a romance that forms part of the backdrop, as well as stories from the Shahnameh and through the characters we enter the world of mysticism, religion and the cultural impact of the Turks looking two ways - East and West. We can draw many parallels between the commentary of the book and the direction that Atatürk took Turkey in today.

No spoilers here, one has to go and read the book themselves. I will say however, that I love Turkey and Istanbul as a city - I was there a couple of years back and I really felt the sense of being on the edge of two worlds. Our hotel looked over the Sultan Ahmed Mosque to the West and the Bosphorus to the East. An irony of positioning, no less.

Istanbul? I would easily return in a heartbeat.

Introduction to Cloud

High Speed Internet and security issues are important no doubt, but let's consider Cloud.

Cloud Computing refers to the use and access of multiple server-based computational resources via a digital network (WAN, Internet connection using the World Wide Web, etc). Cloud users may access the server resources using a computer, netbook, pad computer, smart phone, or other device. In cloud computing, applications are provided and managed by the cloud server and data is also stored remotely in the cloud configuration. Users do not download and install applications on their own device or computer; all processing and storage is maintained by the cloud server. The on-line services may be offered from a cloud provider.

The diagram illustrates the point:

A Tale of Three Apartments

... Actually, a Tale of Four

A week ago, I lived in the high rise towers looking over the busy commercial heart of Abu Dhabi around Airport Road and the area known as Madinat Zayed. For a few years now, it has been home, but I've always been aware of the transience of living in a place like this. Enjoy the sun, the little perks, soak up the culture, walk safe and so on. Avoid growing roots - that's the nature of change in the Khaleej - a basic reminder, I give to myself. 

I've had many visitors over my time here; people who have come especially to stay and have always had room to keep them comfortable. This year - with my family and I shuttling between continents, I've been equally lucky to have had staying visitors most weekends throughout the year. Melmastiya, is a Pashtoon duty and one, that on most occasions has been an honour rather than a duty.

My work has been a drain at times and balancing things has been testing. Still Allah is Merciful and I ask only for patience, faith and the will. Then, my company decides to move me and this accelerates my desire to move on. It was fated to happen.

To be honest, I resisted being moved, but in the end lease contracts on my apartment ended and I was obliged to move.

So, I end up in this apartment on the other side of town, just weeks before my contract closes. This is not intended to be a home, just a place to rest my head whilst I work on my dissertation and see my contract out. I move in and within a day, I suspect some kind of infestation in the kitchen. I have insect bites at night and I request a visit from Pest Control. They tell me cockroaches, and after they leave, there are many dead ones in the kitchen and they are now in the bedroom on the bed. 

I walk out of the apartment and decide that I will not stay in there and I check into a hotel apartment studio suite. Very nice; very clean and I get my first good nights sleep in days. I call the company and tell them I will not go into work and I will not return to the apartment. They move me into a cleaner unit but I spend the day off work cleaning, scrubbing and yes, getting rid of the cockroaches that had crept into my boxes.

So here, I am. Four Apartments in one week.

Counting down the days.

Graphene

Last year, the pioneers of Graphene, Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, University of Manchester, were awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize for Physics. Graphene is being touted as the "miracle material" of the century for its versatile properties and it is believed that it could spell the end for silicon and change the future of computers and other devices forever.

What is Graphene?

• Graphene is largely taken from graphite composed of carbon atoms arranged in tightly bound hexagons just one atom thick
• Three million sheets of graphene on top of each other would be 1mm thick

It is said to be the strongest material ever measured ("Some 200 times stronger than structural steel," mechanical engineering Professor James Hone, Columbia University, "It would take an elephant, balanced on a pencil, to break through a sheet of graphene the thickness of cling film"), an improvement upon silicon and the most conductive material known. Its properties have sent the science world - and the media - into a spin.

The band structure of graphine was first theorised and calculated by PR Wallace in 1947, though for it to exist in the real world was thought impossible. Not surprisingly, some link the timing of this discovery to materials discovered at the Roswell "crash site".

Read more.

Coffee Shop Farewell

About a week ago, I sat alone in an Abu Dhabi coffee shop and looked through the tinted/frosted window. I took a photograph. Those who know me, and those who can guess, will know why. In my own mind, I just wanted to capture the moment.

 

Today, I sit amidst boxes - in a more or less dismantled room and on the move once more. It's been an incredible journey. I have learned a lot and known some wonderful people. The experience has been great and I am richer, more informed and InshAllah, more thoughtful as a result. It is not without regrets, some sadness and the usual worries about the unknown, but I am thankful. Allah has a plan and with Allah rests our fate.