Google Maps... why you on drugs?

So google maps is supposed to be great at giving you directions to your destination. Well it surely does a great job at that [apparently much better than the maps made by the half-eaten fruit company], but recently it really struggles in actually giving you the right directions.

For example: take a look at this screenshot which I captured while asking the G-boy for directions.

Point 1: i asked for WALKING directions, not even CAR directions.

Point 2: i refetched the directions SEVERAL times

Point 3: how could google show me SUCH a long 16 min route [the solid blue line] whereas i was ONLY about 40-60 seconds away from the destination by walk?

Point 4: in fact, the alternative route which google had calculated [the solid grey line] was an EVEN worse route for my given current location and destination

Conclusion: really hope that google doesn't become over-confident about their growth, so much so that it becomes heedless at delivering quality... [like some of the other companies that have risen and fallen in the past]

[UPDATE: Jon Evans on TechCrunch has recently published an appealing article titled "Dear Google, what's wrong with you?" You might wanna check that out too.]

treating the women as a commodity

Originally shared on facebook:

I fail to understand what the visuals of a huge BATEXPO-2013 billboard is actually trying to grab attention to. It is one thing to promote an exhibition of clothing apparels & textiles, and it is another thing to promote that with a lack of clothing. Sub-'han-Allah, using a woman's charms as a materialistic commodity to attract stakeholders to a business has become the definition of modernism today. And our so-called "modern" generation doesn't look at it as offensive to respect-for-women.

source: https://www.facebook.com/syed.rakib/posts/10151871268543559 

Bad guys in movies

I noticed, almost every indian movie shows that the bad guys are the ones who does the most pooja paath and all. The good guys do that occasionally [meh] but the bad guys would have their own temple, would stay in their temple, would bring over pandit and do pooja paath, would give prasad among people - and also cut other people's throats once they are out of the temple and are the most feared person in the area.

Not that i am advocating any one religion over any other religion [that's a totally different topic], but this mass display of the bad guys being the most active in acts of worship has a natural effect on the general public - that religion doesn't necessarily guide anyone towards good; that its only a practice followed by our forefathers and that's why we also follow it without analyzing what exactly this religion thing is.

As a result [with this being one of the MANY other reasons], there is an increased loss of faith and belief among the growing generations year by year. And we think mass media isn't strong enough to manipulate our perceptions.

with the crutch

"De , tor ekta chhobi tule dei", said my mom 

a twisted start of ramadan

sub-'han-Allah.... it's great to see everyone so pleased with their iftar on the first day of ramadan..... after all, it's summer and the days are long and hot. May Allah SWT accept all our fasting through ease and comfort.

My ramadan, however, started off a little differently... today in the morning, while getting down the stairs of my house to head out for office, i misplaced my left foot at one point and, hence, i twisted my left ankle. My doctor said i have torn off a few ligaments and i have been prescribed total bed rest for at least the next 1-2 weeks for the healing to take place properly.

Sub'-han-Allah.... looks like Allah (SWT) has made different plans for my ramadan fasting to go easy on me - by staying indoors at complete bed rest while avoiding the long hot summer days outside. May Allah SWT accept all our fasting through ease and comfort.
Take care every one. Ramadan Mubarak.

A little more harmony and a little less wits

We tend to see something, then perceive something and then make a conclusion about it. We say "You are dumb"... "You are stupid"... "That is so baseless"... "How can she ever think of something like this"... "What on earth was he thinking?"... "Are you out of your minds?" We often forget that context matters. 

I am going to share an email with you that landed in my inbox from a website subscription. It talks about history - certain ways of how the society behaved back then. And the kind of history it talks about shows that these things were perfectly normally perceived in those times, whereas today they are perceived in a very disgusting way at current times.

The objective for sharing this is to remind ourselves that not everything we perceive to be normal is necessarily normal for others; and not everything we perceive to be abnormal is necessarily abnormal for others. Context matters, time matters, background matters.

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Purity is Half of Faith

The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Purity (cleanliness) is half the faith.” [Muslim]

For the most important and fundamental pillar of Islam, five daily prayers, Allah has prescribed cleanliness of the body, cleanliness of the dress and cleanliness of the place of worship as preconditions.

Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) has ordained in the Quran that the purpose of the commands to acquire cleanliness or purity before every prayer by taking a bath or performing Wudhu is Allah’s desire to keep us clean and pure for which we should be grateful to Him. “Allah (by giving the commands in respect of Ghusl and Wudhu) does not wish to place you in difficulty, but to make you clean and complete His favour upon you, so that you may be grateful.” [Quran: Surah Al-Maida, Ayat 6]

It was because of these Islamic injunctions that to care for cleanliness was associated with Islam and Muslims.

To take a bath was considered by Christians to be such a sinful act that when Pope Innocent IV passed the verdict in 1250 AD against Frederick II, King of Sicily and Germany, of being a heathen, the first on his list of accusations was that he took a bath daily like Muslims.

Bathing was considered both sinful and dangerous for one’s health for many centuries in Europe. People either forwent bathing altogether or restricted their hygienic arrangements to washing hands, parts of the face, and rinsing their mouths. Washing one’s entire face was believed to cause catarrh and weaken the eyesight.

Member of the upper classes took full body baths a few times a year, however, King Louis XIV of France and Queen Isabel I of Spain are reported to have bathed only twice in their entire lives. As one Russian ambassador to France noted “His Majesty [King Louis XIV] stunk like a wild animal.”  Russians were not so finicky about bathing and tended to bathe once a month.  Because of this, they were considered perverts by many Europeans.

King Louis XIV stench came from the fact that his physicians advised him to bathe as infrequently as possible to maintain good health.  He also stated that he found the act of bathing disturbing. Queen Isabel I of Spain confessed that she had taken a bath only twice in her lifetime, when she was first born and when she got married.

A daughter of one of the French kings died of lice. Dysentery and scab caused fatal terminations to Popes Clement V and Clement VII correspondingly. Duke Norfolk neglected bathing for religious reasons. As a result of such disregard numerous abscesses dotted his body.

Pope Sixtus IV considered every Christian who took a bath daily to be a heathen (Muslim). To punish the heathens, the Pope established a religious court in 1478 AD that executed 2000 people in the first year alone by burning them alive and convicted and sentenced 17,000 to imprisonment and fines. [History of the Conflict between Religion and Science, by John William Draper]

When the Islamic State came to an end in Spain, King Philip II in 1598 closed down all public baths as they revived memories of Islam. He also removed the Governor of Isabel on the ground that he washed his face and hands daily. [Favours of Islam on Europe]

This hadith has been sent to you by dailyhadith.adaptivesolutionsinc.com

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Just look at how what is considered a basic hygiene today was considered a disgraceful sin back then  - so much so that he should be burned alive if he took shower. 

The objective for sharing this is to remind ourselves that not everything we perceive to be normal is necessarily normal for others; and not everything we perceive to be abnormal is necessarily abnormal for others. Context matters, time matters, background matters. We must refrain from making judgements when we come across something which we are not generally used to experiencing. What we must do instead as a society requires a little more harmony and a little less wits.

Rakib

Tooth erupted

Following my last post on my dental makeover series, here is where my erupted tooth stands today. Follow the timeline to see the progress over the last 3 months.

February 3rd 2013

December 21st 2012

November 19th 2012

It was like repeated climbing of the archwire up the erupting tooth

Disclaimer: If anyone is disgusted by these pictures, please press Ctrl+W (or Command+W on Mac)