mohamed hamad

The games come to a close with a new champion

// July 12th, 2010 // View Comments // General, sports

And so the games come to a close, seeing a new champion, Spain, ranking among the best in the world in Fifa World Cup arena, joining only 7 nations before them.

They played a tough game against the rough and tumble Dutch, who broke records in their foul play, but they managed to persevere against their impeccable defences, through a full game and 30min of extra time. They kept ball possession and pushed as hard as they could until Iniesta siezed the chance and scored an amazing winning goal in the final moments.

I have to say though, it was the longest and most boring game of this tournament. The fouls in their brutishness kept us entertained as my friends and I watched while having a late breakfast at my place. Cheering for Spain had its ups and downs, with worried faces looking on, as close calls had Robben masterfully passing the Spanish defences but not following through. Both teams had ample opportunity many a time, but no follow through left us screaming in frustration.

Spain’s game play wasn’t the most stellar through the tournament, and teams with better score such as Germany (4-0 against Argentina and England) were favoured. I think they scored the least goals with the most victories. In the end it was a well deserved effort, that yielded them the championship.  It’s good to see the cup in the hands of a new flag.

A little tid-bit. If Spain had lost, New Zealand would have been the only undefeated team in this World Cup!

And the Football fever continues!!

// June 27th, 2010 // View Comments // General, sports

FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa

This has been one hell of an intense FIFA World Cup so far, with all the big dogs out, and the scrappy underdogs gnashing out for survival.

My team, the NZ All Whites, though doing an amazing job not loosing any games, it just wasn’t enough to get through without winning. But they did make it on top of the defending champions Italy, and that makes it one hell of a year for NZ, whose football presence is negligible.

The first game in the round of 16, Ghana vs USA, was one hell of an intense match. I was in a Portuguese restaurant watching the game, rooting for Ghana, with everyone else chanting for the USA. The owner had put some money on the US, and lost it as it tied 1-1 going on to extra time. But Ghana came back strong with a stellar goal that destroyed all hopes for the US to get to the next round.

I’m not a big Germany fan, and not a big England fan either. Out of the two though, it was clear that Germany was the better team, which was proven by 4-1 lead. I guess the German psychic octopus is psychic after all. Now the Germans are poised to go against the winner of Mexico vs Argentina.

I’m rooting for Argentina on this game, coz I want to see the Maradona coached Argentina face Germany and redeem themselves from last world cups loss. I was in a pub in downtown Auckland 4 years ago cheering for Argentina in an overwhelmingly German crowd at 4am. Lets just say there was a lot of yelling, and I called in sick the next day, only to be blackmailed by a work mate coz I ended up on the 6 O’Clock news running around wrapped in the Argentinian flag.

Now that my NZ is out, I’m cheering on a case by case basis, with no clear favourite to win the cup. Ghana is Africa’s last hope on pushing through to a historic quarter finals if they beat Uruguay. I would love to see Argentina win, and wondering if Maradona will hold his promise to streak in the nude if they won.

Whose your favourite team, and who do you think will win?

Update: Looks like it is Argentina vs Germany! Go Argentina!

Communication with the non-connected

// June 8th, 2010 // View Comments // General, communication, social media

The number of ways to contact and communicate with people these days is ridiculous. Personal blogs, social networks such as Twitter and facebook, work and personal email, phones, text messaging and instant messaging!

I’m one of those people who is pretty much accessible on most of the available channels, to the point where some friends panic when I don’t answer the phone after a few attempts, or get frumpy when I don’t email or instant message back promptly.

I have to say, it’s becoming quite the chore to manage all of these channels, but you find a way to filter the noise, keep things sane with good tools and habits.

What happens though, when you encounter someone who isn’t as connected? Those who find cell phones intrusive and can’t stand text messaging. They don’t get the point of Twitter ( I sometimes don’t really), and Facebook is just too open and scary with too much information for their taste. How do you communicate with those who aren’t connected?

How do you handle people who are hard to reach? I just try and try again!!!

Words from a dear friend

// June 4th, 2010 // View Comments // General

It takes a lot of courage
to release the familiar
and seemingly secure,
to embrace the new.

But there is no real security
in what is no longer meaningful.

There is more security
in the adventurous and exciting,
for in movement there is life,
and in change
there is power.

- Alan Cohen

Thanks Louisa

International Condmentation, Resolutions and then what!

// June 1st, 2010 // View Comments // General

I´m not going to talk much about the Israeli attacks on the Gaza flotilla as there is enough coverage and commentary out there. But as we see the international condemnation by world leaders, and calls for investigations and the media coverage, I feel very jaded as to the final outcome of all it.

I seems like time and time again, the Israelis use disproportionate force claiming their right to defend themselves. Disregarding UN resolutions and being beligerent in their actions to other soveriegn countries and allies.

When will the global community say enough is enough, and that there are consequences to such actions. I hope this is the time!!

When toys start to look like tools

// May 29th, 2010 // View Comments // General, travel

So I had my final day at babyTEL on Friday where I worked as the senior web developer for the social voip application on facebook called Telephone for almost 3 years. I had an amazing time there and met some of the most talented and amazing people.

My departure meant I had to return the trusty MacBook that’s chugged along with my for about 2 years, leaving me with no portable companion. It left me with questions on how to fill this void and would I dare to venture for something new.

That same day was the Friday where the iPad made it’s debut in Montreal. I was very tempted to queue up with the masses for one, but thought I would hold out for a minute and think it through.

But right now I’m travelling to Mexico city and all I got to hold me through is my iPod touch. Meanwhile every airport terminal I land in, on my awefully long 2 connection flight, I see people happily enjoying their iPad.

I always saw the iPad as toy I would get to satiate my need for new technology. But my conversations with some around the airport leads me to believe that it’s very practical for travelling, and a very useful tool!

The question is, can I buy an iPad as my main mode of computing, or will I have to get me a new MacBook pro? Or am I gonna get both. Hmmmm!

For you out there, do you have an iPad and how do you feel about it’s utility? Can you use it as your main device?

Being social sans the network

// May 27th, 2010 // View Comments // General, Uncategorized, social media

It’s become a very normal thing to get several invites via LinkedIn or Facebook to become someones contact a day or two after you meet them. More often than not, you wont see that person again, or not for a long time, but you will see their lives unravel before your eyes as long as they are in your social sphere. The question is though, how much do you know these people really? Even when you know every mood they’ve had, every picture they are in, and every event they are going to!

I recently decided to take a different approach to meeting people by not adding them as friends on Facebook until I feel like I’m really friends with them. Sounds simple, right?

It was hard to resist the urge of finding out more about a person when their lives are not served to you on a silver platter. You find yourself googling them, checking if they are on twitter and what not, and then just surrendering to just giving them a call and going out for a coffee or beer.

From then on, something happens. You actually start to make a real connection that is not overpowered by assumptions of who that person is based on their shared media. You are actually getting to know them. Sharing stories and experiences with each other, in your own words and expressions, not a slideshow of pictures with no narrative, or a series of status updates that have no context.

The only drawback is not being able to share things online with those non-network friends. Inviting them to events reverts back to email, text messages and phone calls. Sharing interesting or funny video clips needs you to enter their email address, etc. All the things that were time consuming about the web that social media made quick and easy, are gone.

I’m going to stick with it, but I do know that at some point, i’m going to have to bring them in to the fold,. But by holding back, at least I know that I can really call them a friend.

When do you add a friend on Facebook? Do you wait a while before you add them, or do you do it immediately?

Reading in to the iPad

// January 29th, 2010 // View Comments // General, Review

So the iPad is finally out, and the reviews are mixed. For the most part, it was a disappointment since our imaginations ran wild with crazy speculations on what this device would do, its user interface and capabilities.

I’m actually quite impressed with the product, and think its a great piece of technology. It seems to me that this device is not a netbook, and it’s not a laptop, and it’s not a smartphone, and it’s not a full fledged tablet PC. It’s a tablet device for the consumption, and light content creation, a portable media player (PMP) that has a platform for developers.

There is controversy over the lack of multi-tasking, and I agree, a device of this size and capabilities should by all means be able to do more than one thing at a time, but when the purpose of the device is to focus on the current media at hand eg: reading a book, watching a movie, or surfing the web, then it seems to me a valid point. If you were to want to do more than that, you would use a laptop or a desktop with a larger screen, more comfortable keyboard and specialized apps.

I am not impressed with the fact that it doesn’t have a front facing camera, and that for some reason, Apple seems to have forgotten about iChat recently. It used to be touted as one of its flagship software products, available on all macs, but sorely missed in its portable products. The iPad would have a good place for it, what with the capable cpu and larger screen, but really, when it comes down to it, it would be a pain to hold that thing up while you go for a 20 min video chat session with someone.

Then there is the lack of Flash, and though its a deal breaker for most, I’m not really fussed with it. Sure, it would be nice to watch all the videos on websites that stream in flash. But then there are sites that use Silverlight, and then all the other plugins. I hope with the advancement of HTML 5 and its adoption now by the biggest video content deliverer, Youtube, followed by Vimeo, soon, we will not need Flash for something as ubiquitous as video. And for those websites that are developed in Flash, for a “Enhanced User Experience”, I never liked you. You annoy me! Big time!!

So thats my two cents. The iPad wasn’t a totally jaw dropping announcement, with a few missing features, but a very promising future I believe.

What do you think?