When reading history, it is interesting to know where exactly the places mentioned are today. If one is reading history in a language that no longer exists in the region studied, then the task is much harder.

One such case is the Arabic names for towns and cities in the Iberian peninsula, in what is now Spain and Portugal. For eight centuries, this area was under Arab rule, and known by the name al-Andalus الأندلس. Many chronicles and history books have been written by the Arab speaking inhabitants of Iberia.

In this article, I try to provide a list of Arabic and Spanish names of the towns and cities, so it is easy to cross reference those for anyone who is studying the region and its history.

My brother Omar is a business man with a background in economics and business.

Two commonly used names for Arabs in movies or in popular cultures are 'Abu' and 'Abdul'. These terms are incorrectly used. Read below to see why.

Linux is an open source general purpose operating system. Over the years, several people have used it in embedded systems. Now, Linux is in PDAs, Cell Phones, Routers, MP3 Players, Set Top boxes, and much more.

This article provides a wealth of information on the use of Linux in embedded systems.

One often comes across objections to using free software in commerical packages. These objections are often not based in reality but rather misperceptions, and FUD (Fear, Uncertanity and Doubt).

In this article, I will try to explore these objections, and counter them by facts.

Cape Trafalgar is a point in the south west shore of the Iberian penninsula, north of Gibraltar. This is the place where the famous battle of Cape Trafalgar happened in October of 1805, and Admiral Horatio Nelson defeated the combined fleet of France and Spain, assuming supremacy of the seas for Britian for a century.Various sources spell it as:

Ancient manuscripts provide a fascinating link to the past.

When I tell people that I have six computers networked at home, they are often taken aback. But really really each one does have a certain function, and is used daily. Yes, I know, I am a techno-nerd. Get over it.

Recently, broadband internet has become so common that the use of modems has dropped dramatically. It has been many years since I had to configure a modem on a computer, let alone do so on Linux. However, modems do still have their uses. I bought a used 3COM 5610 PCI modem in order to be able to fax from Linux, and had to relearn how to configure a modem on Linux again. So, here is what I did.