/page/2

A Spoon & A Keyboard

Their is no simplicity. Thing are just deceivingly simple to use or acquire. I type on this “simple” keyboard on my smartphone for which the accumulated hardware and software engineering spanning many fields of science and generations of scientists would require me more than a life time to comprehend. I eat with a simple spoon for which if I were required to produce, starting from digging up the ore, separating the material, heating the steel, forging the mold, finishing the product, transferring it my part of the world, would require substantial effort and time. This is a mere keyboard or spoon. It is a great gift that our minds deal withs as a whole and don’t see lots of the details. People who are actually like this, such as savants, are socially crippled and have hard time dealing with people among other things. Sent from my iPhone

Posted via email from Khalid’s Stream | Comment »

1 year ago 

A Spoon & A Keyboard

Their is no simplicity. Thing are just deceivingly simple to use or acquire. I type on this “simple” keyboard on my smartphone for which the
accumulated hardware and software engineering spanning many fields of
science and generations of scientists would require me more than a
life time to comprehend.

I eat with a simple spoon for which if I were required to produce,
starting from digging up the ore, separating the material, heating the
steel, forging the mold, finishing the product, transferring it my
part of the world, would require substantial effort and time. This is a mere keyboard or spoon.

It is a great gift that our minds deal withs as a whole and don’t see
lots of the details. People who are actually like this, such as
savants, are socially crippled and have hard time dealing with people
among other things.

Posted via email from Khalid’s Stream | Comment »

1 year ago 

Presenting Controversial Ideas

I’ve noted that cutting edge thought is controversial by definition. This is because it goes against conventional wisdom and/o set boundaries. But this doesn’t mean that it should not be presented or discussed. 
Information is a lagging indicator of reality. To produce Information, it must be registered, gathered as data, analysed, and tested. Some people, for various reasons and circumstances, register reality before it is has been “formalized” or even registered by others. When they present their ideas, these ideas seem controversial and contrary to common belief, but, with time, they become the norm. 

In fact, the above is just stating the obvious because much of we consider facts today in many faculties of life were, at their infancy, considered very controversial or impossible. Imagine saying to a person ages ago that we can communicate visually and orally with a person thousands of kilometers away? 
What ideas can be told today that would give you and others the same reaction as that of the person above? 

Maybe this is why individuality is so important; it gives us new perspective. Maybe this is why Allah make new generations; so they can start with a new clean slate and not be bound by ideas can be improved upon and transcended.

At the same time, we have to be wary of delusions put forth by ourselves and others. These tend to pose little proof and cannot withstand the test inquiry. And most importantly, they contradict Allah’s guidance. 
A Muslim uses Allah’s guidance to navigate through what he reads and learns. I think Muslims are in a great position to present new and innovative ideas if they actively use their religious foundation and apply it to current knowledge and science. A very important part of this foundation is that not only restricts, but it also liberates which is vital to creativity and the establishment of fresh perspectives. 

Just keep on listening to yourself, others, and most importantly to Allah, and don’t be afraid to present your ideas if you believe that you are really right. 

Posted via email from Khalid’s Stream | Comment »

1 year ago 

Turn 90 Degrees

thor-fallkniven-knife.jpg
A person that focuses on his weaknesses is much like a knife that is being used by it’s broadside. If turned only 90 degrees and used by its sharp edge, the situation changes completely, and it becomes a much more potent tool. 
In many cases, we have strengths within that require only a minor adjustment to surface and be utilized. 

In many cases, our weaknesses are necessary for our strengths to exist; the sharp side would not exist if not for the broad side. Weakness in many cases is necessary.

Posted via email from Khalid’s Stream | Comment »

1 year ago 

Holding A Grudge

Posted via email from Khalid’s Stream | Comment »

1 year ago 

A Closed Frame of Thought

These ants will rotate like this until they die. Each one will follow the one ahead until they parish.

Some people’s frame of thought is like this. Their frame of thought doesn’t allow any new stream of contrary notions to penetrate … by design. We would do well to listen to others and most importantly to the feeble voice within.

Posted via email from Khalid’s Stream | Comment »

1 year ago 

Nice Quote

“Getting lost will help you find yourself”. 

Posted via email from Khalid’s Stream | Comment »

1 year ago 

What The Hell is This America!

</object>

Posted via email from Khalid’s Stream | Comment »

1 year ago 

Class Management

<div class=”prezi-player”><style type=”text/css” media=”screen”>.prezi-player { width: 550px; } .prezi-player-links { text-align: center; }</style><div class=”prezi-player-links”><p>Class Management on Prezi</p></div></div>

Posted via email from Khalid’s Stream | Comment »

1 year ago 

On the IPad

As a result of introducing the IPad, there is a debate going on in the inner web about the pros and cons of open vs. closed platforms. You can read more on this here and here.
I kind of think that with the introduction of the IPhone and the IPad, a seismic shift has occurred. What is happening is normal; people are just trading off what they just want for what they really need to gain significant value.

I buy a Camry not a BMW because, although I like all the amenities of the BMW, I’ve got other things I want to spend my money on that are more important to me than the leather seats of the BMW. I like those 360 feature in the MS Word, but I can do with just the 20 features that I use the most in Google Docs if you give it to me for free.
Life is really about trade-offs. That’s why products and services just tend to branch out to deliver the best value possible for each customer category.  PCs are going to start to trade-off the trivial for the important to deliver more value. It happened with the laptop and IPhone and it is happening with the IPad right now.

The advantages of closed system for the average consumer are clear; he gets a superior experience by forsaking some openness that really doesn’t matter that much to the average user. Think about it, why do I have to deal with behind the scenes processes that hog resources, viruses & spyware, file systems, installations, etc. when I can allow - by my own free will- Apple to enforce more control and just forget about all that to focus on what matters to me. It’s like saying I want to be able to hack a calculator so I can have the ability to multi-task, create applications that work on the calculator, over-clock it’s CPU, etc. Not everybody wants or needs that. Many people are not geeks and don’t what to be held to geek standards. 
The majority of the world wants something that works and gives an extraordinary experience to achieve what matters most to them. It’s been happening since the beginning of time, but geeks just haven’t realized it yet. Apple has created a device that is really media consumption and that’s what most consumers want as will be demonstrated by IPad’s sales. 

Posted via email from Khalid’s Stream | Comment »

1 year ago 

Untitled

“You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.”
Steve Jobs

Posted via email from Khalid’s Stream | Comment »

1 year ago 

Leveraging the Virtual Classroom for Effective Learning with

This is the title of a video from the UMBC Youtube channel which is basically about research on what works and what doesn’t in eLearning. 
Here are some of the most important points:

Visuals 
=Learning is almost the same regardless of medium (computers, print, instructor-led) ; the only increase occurs when using appropriate techniques (demos, practice, examples, etc.)  and aids (visuals, audio, images, etc.).
=Much of our long term memory depends on our knowledge. With knowledge, our short term memory can make use of patterns that we have stored in our ling term memory (knowledge), so it can process information in chunks in the short term memory. People with little knowledge in an area will tend to handle each detail by itself as they don’t see the relationships yet.

=Using visuals + text very much improve learning when compared by using only text. With visuals, the learner will tend more channels to understand the content (text+visual) and (from me) graphics usually tend to hold much more info in condensed form which helps in seeing the relationships and digest the info in chunks.
=Visuals (images, videos) can be hinder learning and be distracting if not used properly. Visuals have to serve the learning objective as is the case with techniques.  80% of visuals in highschool textbooks serve no educational purpose, as per one study.

=Explaining visuals through audio alone is better than audio+text as it overloads the learner.
=Visuals can be categorized into 3 main typs:
  • Decorative: visuals that are added for aesthetic/ humorous purposes. These are ok if used sparingly. 
  • Representational: visuals that are used to show who something looks like, for example a kind of tree or engine.
  • Explanatory: this is the most important and is used to explain and idea by showing relationships. It can be divided into 3 types:
                =organizational (qualitative relationships): like concept charts 
                =relational (quantitative summarization): like pie/bar charts or histograms
                =transformation (change in time or space): anything that shows something changing in time or space.
                =interpretive (make invisible visible): like the inside of a motor or a molecule 
 
Practice 
=You should keep learners engaged. Spread out practice in more effective long term. Short term there is little difference between condensed practice and spread out practice. An example is 6 practice exercises 3 per day for 2 days vs. 2 per day for 3 days.

=(example, practice , example, practice, example, practice) is a more effective pattern than (example, practice, practice, practice) because in the first the learner has time to learn by reviewing the example. In the second pattern, the learning will not be learning and reflecting. Usually, the first pattern results in better learning in a shorter time.
=Keep practice relevant to how it will be applied in the real world. 

=Practice has a diminishing rate of returns aspect: most of the learning occurs in the first practices. After that learning will be incremental and very small in comparison to the first practice sessions. So, you have to gauge your how much time you have and the importance for the learning outcome.  

Posted via email from Khalid’s Stream | Comment »

1 year ago 

Change Something

Are you happy? via

Posted via email from Khalid’s Stream | Comment »

1 year ago 

Spelling It Out

Sometimes there is a certain idea lingering in my mind that is still not well defined; it is still far way and vague to my mind’s eye. I’ve noticed when I write or talk about it, starts to come closer and become more vivid. Believe it or not, this article was vague before I started to write it a few moments ago, but now it becoming more vivid. 
The reason, I guess, is when you say something or express it, you are forced to give it form. It seems that there is a rift between our thoughts and our words; while it is acceptable that our thoughts remain vague and mostly open-ended, our words are to be clear and meaningful.

I guess the lesson learned is that in many cases we might harbour ideas that are all but ready for definition and expression, but we tend to procrastinate and never give them final form. Forcing ourselves to express them in speech or writing can be a useful strategy, that might only take moments. And even if they are 100%, someone might read or hear them, and create something wonderful out of them.

Posted via email from Khalid’s Stream | Comment »

1 year ago 

Why Islam Works Across Cultures


Islam has spread in all continents and many, many cultures. By some accounts, it is the fastest growing religion in the world and particularly in the USA. It is doing especially well in Texas! Think about that for a minute. An area known for its religious conservatism in a country that was struck by 9/11 is adopting Islam notably! I’ve even read some title about a family that was a victim of 9/11 that has become muslim! 

The same can’t be said about many dogmas or systems which continue to face resistance and declining numbers of people adopting them.
I believe this is because we, as humans, pursue in the same thing regardless of our cultures or values. We are all in pursuit of happiness. 

Many earthly systems or doctrines miss this point; for example, some emphasize individual unrestrained pleasure as in the case of capitalism. They equate pleasure with happiness and come to the conclusion that peoples or cultures that don’t have the amenities that they do are unhappy. Islam focuses on that common beacon that draws us all, the pursuit of happiness while not neglecting our needs as humans. It promotes balance with very strong emphasis on the soul.
In my earlier post (the one just before this), I mentioned that many cultures suffer pain as a result of adopting systems, traditions, and values that don’t fit into there cultural DNA. This was provoked by a documentary I saw some time back about a this westerner (maybe a scientist or businessman) who was visiting this Mongolian tribe in the central plains of Asia. They seemed very happy to me; they were poor, but they were very close to each other and just seemed happy living the way they did. Then this westerner said, “These people don’t know what they are missing. They could be making millions by investing more time in these crafts and marketing them better..”, or something along those lines. 

In effect, he was asking them to substitute the happiness that their current culture provided with the pleasure that the western culture offered. I personally found the assumption that he based this comment on to be morally very very wrong. Proof? Just look at the cultures that adopted the western system and lifestyle. Are they happy?
Islam doesn’t accept traditions or practices that go against Allah’s rulings, but, overwhelmingly, it lets people live, love, and learn, while encouraging them to worship their Creator and leaves the rest alone. That is is the meaning of happiness that people should adopt.

Posted via email from Khalid’s Stream | Comment »

2 years ago 

A Spoon & A Keyboard

Their is no simplicity. Thing are just deceivingly simple to use or acquire. I type on this “simple” keyboard on my smartphone for which the accumulated hardware and software engineering spanning many fields of science and generations of scientists would require me more than a life time to comprehend. I eat with a simple spoon for which if I were required to produce, starting from digging up the ore, separating the material, heating the steel, forging the mold, finishing the product, transferring it my part of the world, would require substantial effort and time. This is a mere keyboard or spoon. It is a great gift that our minds deal withs as a whole and don’t see lots of the details. People who are actually like this, such as savants, are socially crippled and have hard time dealing with people among other things. Sent from my iPhone

Posted via email from Khalid’s Stream | Comment »

A Spoon & A Keyboard

Their is no simplicity. Thing are just deceivingly simple to use or acquire. I type on this “simple” keyboard on my smartphone for which the
accumulated hardware and software engineering spanning many fields of
science and generations of scientists would require me more than a
life time to comprehend.

I eat with a simple spoon for which if I were required to produce,
starting from digging up the ore, separating the material, heating the
steel, forging the mold, finishing the product, transferring it my
part of the world, would require substantial effort and time. This is a mere keyboard or spoon.

It is a great gift that our minds deal withs as a whole and don’t see
lots of the details. People who are actually like this, such as
savants, are socially crippled and have hard time dealing with people
among other things.

Posted via email from Khalid’s Stream | Comment »

Presenting Controversial Ideas

I’ve noted that cutting edge thought is controversial by definition. This is because it goes against conventional wisdom and/o set boundaries. But this doesn’t mean that it should not be presented or discussed. 
Information is a lagging indicator of reality. To produce Information, it must be registered, gathered as data, analysed, and tested. Some people, for various reasons and circumstances, register reality before it is has been “formalized” or even registered by others. When they present their ideas, these ideas seem controversial and contrary to common belief, but, with time, they become the norm. 

In fact, the above is just stating the obvious because much of we consider facts today in many faculties of life were, at their infancy, considered very controversial or impossible. Imagine saying to a person ages ago that we can communicate visually and orally with a person thousands of kilometers away? 
What ideas can be told today that would give you and others the same reaction as that of the person above? 

Maybe this is why individuality is so important; it gives us new perspective. Maybe this is why Allah make new generations; so they can start with a new clean slate and not be bound by ideas can be improved upon and transcended.

At the same time, we have to be wary of delusions put forth by ourselves and others. These tend to pose little proof and cannot withstand the test inquiry. And most importantly, they contradict Allah’s guidance. 
A Muslim uses Allah’s guidance to navigate through what he reads and learns. I think Muslims are in a great position to present new and innovative ideas if they actively use their religious foundation and apply it to current knowledge and science. A very important part of this foundation is that not only restricts, but it also liberates which is vital to creativity and the establishment of fresh perspectives. 

Just keep on listening to yourself, others, and most importantly to Allah, and don’t be afraid to present your ideas if you believe that you are really right. 

Posted via email from Khalid’s Stream | Comment »

Turn 90 Degrees

thor-fallkniven-knife.jpg
A person that focuses on his weaknesses is much like a knife that is being used by it’s broadside. If turned only 90 degrees and used by its sharp edge, the situation changes completely, and it becomes a much more potent tool. 
In many cases, we have strengths within that require only a minor adjustment to surface and be utilized. 

In many cases, our weaknesses are necessary for our strengths to exist; the sharp side would not exist if not for the broad side. Weakness in many cases is necessary.

Posted via email from Khalid’s Stream | Comment »

Holding A Grudge

Posted via email from Khalid’s Stream | Comment »

A Closed Frame of Thought

These ants will rotate like this until they die. Each one will follow the one ahead until they parish.

Some people’s frame of thought is like this. Their frame of thought doesn’t allow any new stream of contrary notions to penetrate … by design. We would do well to listen to others and most importantly to the feeble voice within.

Posted via email from Khalid’s Stream | Comment »

Nice Quote

“Getting lost will help you find yourself”. 

Posted via email from Khalid’s Stream | Comment »

What The Hell is This America!

</object>

Posted via email from Khalid’s Stream | Comment »

Class Management

<div class=”prezi-player”><style type=”text/css” media=”screen”>.prezi-player { width: 550px; } .prezi-player-links { text-align: center; }</style><div class=”prezi-player-links”><p>Class Management on Prezi</p></div></div>

Posted via email from Khalid’s Stream | Comment »

On the IPad

As a result of introducing the IPad, there is a debate going on in the inner web about the pros and cons of open vs. closed platforms. You can read more on this here and here.
I kind of think that with the introduction of the IPhone and the IPad, a seismic shift has occurred. What is happening is normal; people are just trading off what they just want for what they really need to gain significant value.

I buy a Camry not a BMW because, although I like all the amenities of the BMW, I’ve got other things I want to spend my money on that are more important to me than the leather seats of the BMW. I like those 360 feature in the MS Word, but I can do with just the 20 features that I use the most in Google Docs if you give it to me for free.
Life is really about trade-offs. That’s why products and services just tend to branch out to deliver the best value possible for each customer category.  PCs are going to start to trade-off the trivial for the important to deliver more value. It happened with the laptop and IPhone and it is happening with the IPad right now.

The advantages of closed system for the average consumer are clear; he gets a superior experience by forsaking some openness that really doesn’t matter that much to the average user. Think about it, why do I have to deal with behind the scenes processes that hog resources, viruses & spyware, file systems, installations, etc. when I can allow - by my own free will- Apple to enforce more control and just forget about all that to focus on what matters to me. It’s like saying I want to be able to hack a calculator so I can have the ability to multi-task, create applications that work on the calculator, over-clock it’s CPU, etc. Not everybody wants or needs that. Many people are not geeks and don’t what to be held to geek standards. 
The majority of the world wants something that works and gives an extraordinary experience to achieve what matters most to them. It’s been happening since the beginning of time, but geeks just haven’t realized it yet. Apple has created a device that is really media consumption and that’s what most consumers want as will be demonstrated by IPad’s sales. 

Posted via email from Khalid’s Stream | Comment »

Untitled

“You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.”
Steve Jobs

Posted via email from Khalid’s Stream | Comment »

Leveraging the Virtual Classroom for Effective Learning with

This is the title of a video from the UMBC Youtube channel which is basically about research on what works and what doesn’t in eLearning. 
Here are some of the most important points:

Visuals 
=Learning is almost the same regardless of medium (computers, print, instructor-led) ; the only increase occurs when using appropriate techniques (demos, practice, examples, etc.)  and aids (visuals, audio, images, etc.).
=Much of our long term memory depends on our knowledge. With knowledge, our short term memory can make use of patterns that we have stored in our ling term memory (knowledge), so it can process information in chunks in the short term memory. People with little knowledge in an area will tend to handle each detail by itself as they don’t see the relationships yet.

=Using visuals + text very much improve learning when compared by using only text. With visuals, the learner will tend more channels to understand the content (text+visual) and (from me) graphics usually tend to hold much more info in condensed form which helps in seeing the relationships and digest the info in chunks.
=Visuals (images, videos) can be hinder learning and be distracting if not used properly. Visuals have to serve the learning objective as is the case with techniques.  80% of visuals in highschool textbooks serve no educational purpose, as per one study.

=Explaining visuals through audio alone is better than audio+text as it overloads the learner.
=Visuals can be categorized into 3 main typs:
  • Decorative: visuals that are added for aesthetic/ humorous purposes. These are ok if used sparingly. 
  • Representational: visuals that are used to show who something looks like, for example a kind of tree or engine.
  • Explanatory: this is the most important and is used to explain and idea by showing relationships. It can be divided into 3 types:
                =organizational (qualitative relationships): like concept charts 
                =relational (quantitative summarization): like pie/bar charts or histograms
                =transformation (change in time or space): anything that shows something changing in time or space.
                =interpretive (make invisible visible): like the inside of a motor or a molecule 
 
Practice 
=You should keep learners engaged. Spread out practice in more effective long term. Short term there is little difference between condensed practice and spread out practice. An example is 6 practice exercises 3 per day for 2 days vs. 2 per day for 3 days.

=(example, practice , example, practice, example, practice) is a more effective pattern than (example, practice, practice, practice) because in the first the learner has time to learn by reviewing the example. In the second pattern, the learning will not be learning and reflecting. Usually, the first pattern results in better learning in a shorter time.
=Keep practice relevant to how it will be applied in the real world. 

=Practice has a diminishing rate of returns aspect: most of the learning occurs in the first practices. After that learning will be incremental and very small in comparison to the first practice sessions. So, you have to gauge your how much time you have and the importance for the learning outcome.  

Posted via email from Khalid’s Stream | Comment »

Change Something

Are you happy? via

Posted via email from Khalid’s Stream | Comment »

Spelling It Out

Sometimes there is a certain idea lingering in my mind that is still not well defined; it is still far way and vague to my mind’s eye. I’ve noticed when I write or talk about it, starts to come closer and become more vivid. Believe it or not, this article was vague before I started to write it a few moments ago, but now it becoming more vivid. 
The reason, I guess, is when you say something or express it, you are forced to give it form. It seems that there is a rift between our thoughts and our words; while it is acceptable that our thoughts remain vague and mostly open-ended, our words are to be clear and meaningful.

I guess the lesson learned is that in many cases we might harbour ideas that are all but ready for definition and expression, but we tend to procrastinate and never give them final form. Forcing ourselves to express them in speech or writing can be a useful strategy, that might only take moments. And even if they are 100%, someone might read or hear them, and create something wonderful out of them.

Posted via email from Khalid’s Stream | Comment »

Why Islam Works Across Cultures


Islam has spread in all continents and many, many cultures. By some accounts, it is the fastest growing religion in the world and particularly in the USA. It is doing especially well in Texas! Think about that for a minute. An area known for its religious conservatism in a country that was struck by 9/11 is adopting Islam notably! I’ve even read some title about a family that was a victim of 9/11 that has become muslim! 

The same can’t be said about many dogmas or systems which continue to face resistance and declining numbers of people adopting them.
I believe this is because we, as humans, pursue in the same thing regardless of our cultures or values. We are all in pursuit of happiness. 

Many earthly systems or doctrines miss this point; for example, some emphasize individual unrestrained pleasure as in the case of capitalism. They equate pleasure with happiness and come to the conclusion that peoples or cultures that don’t have the amenities that they do are unhappy. Islam focuses on that common beacon that draws us all, the pursuit of happiness while not neglecting our needs as humans. It promotes balance with very strong emphasis on the soul.
In my earlier post (the one just before this), I mentioned that many cultures suffer pain as a result of adopting systems, traditions, and values that don’t fit into there cultural DNA. This was provoked by a documentary I saw some time back about a this westerner (maybe a scientist or businessman) who was visiting this Mongolian tribe in the central plains of Asia. They seemed very happy to me; they were poor, but they were very close to each other and just seemed happy living the way they did. Then this westerner said, “These people don’t know what they are missing. They could be making millions by investing more time in these crafts and marketing them better..”, or something along those lines. 

In effect, he was asking them to substitute the happiness that their current culture provided with the pleasure that the western culture offered. I personally found the assumption that he based this comment on to be morally very very wrong. Proof? Just look at the cultures that adopted the western system and lifestyle. Are they happy?
Islam doesn’t accept traditions or practices that go against Allah’s rulings, but, overwhelmingly, it lets people live, love, and learn, while encouraging them to worship their Creator and leaves the rest alone. That is is the meaning of happiness that people should adopt.

Posted via email from Khalid’s Stream | Comment »

A Spoon & A Keyboard
A Spoon & A Keyboard
Presenting Controversial Ideas
Turn 90 Degrees
Holding A Grudge
A Closed Frame of Thought
Nice Quote
What The Hell is This America!
Class Management
On the IPad
Untitled
Leveraging the Virtual Classroom for Effective Learning with
Change Something
Spelling It Out
Why Islam Works Across Cultures

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