More signs of spring ...

Today, I saw a small flock of starlings.

Definite sign of spring today ...

It is only March 2nd, with lots of snow on the ground, below zero temperatures are still around, and some more snow yet to fall ...

But signs of springs are already here ...

When I woke up, I heard a male American Goldfinch singing at the top of the tall evergreen in the backyard.

I ran into a humorous page on Facebook on Abdel Karim Mardini that his ex-colleagues at Open Craft setup as a practical joke. It is so funny, I can't convey the full meaning of all the Arabic jokes, but the gist of it is that it portrays Abdel Karim as a reformer, spiritual leader, ...etc.

Here is a Drupal gem:

تلخيص الدروبال ثيم، لتخليص آكلي البرسيم

واحد بلدياتي بعت لامه علبة كبريت
قالتله مش شغالة
قالها ازاي انا مجربهم واحد واحد

واحد بلدياتي راح يخطب
ابو العروسه قاله يا ابني البنت لسة صغيرة في المدرسة
قالوا خلاص اجي بالليل تكون جت يا عمي

جماعة بلدياتي قاعدين ف خيمة وعاوزين يولعوا عشان يطبخوا
بعتوا واحد يجيب كبريت
خرج من باب الخيمة ودخل من الباب اللي ورا
قالهم عندكوا كبريت
قالولوا اقعد بعتنا نجيب

بلدياتي بيعاكس واحدة في التليفون
قالتله شكلك صعيدي
قالها ينعل ابو اظهار الرقم ديه

صعيدي سال اجنبي
انت مرتبك كام
قاله 1000 دولار بدل معيشة
1000 دولار بدل سفر< /FONT>
1000 دولار بدل تغذية
1000 دولار بدل .......

واحد صعيدي بقالو عشر سنين يدعي "يا رب اجيب ولد يا رب اجيب ولد" فنزل له ملاك وقاله "ابوس ايدك اتجوز الاول"

واحد صعيدي شاف امه بتتحرق والنار طالعة منها فقال لها "منورة يا حاجة"

In 2008, the University of Waterloo formed a committee to select a web content management system.

In March 2009, the selection was narrowed down to three CMS's, Drupal being the only Open Source one of them. The other two being RedDot by Open Text (a company headquarted locally in Waterloo), and Cascade Server by Hannon Hill.

Later RedDot was selected as the CMS of choice.

A woman in Edmonton lost $1,300 to fraudsters posting as a mystery shopper company.

The company, called Regent Research, posed a consumer research firm, and the applicant was given an assignment. They sent a money order for $1,500, and asked her to wire the $1,300 to a fake cousin in the UK.

By the time the bank discovered that the money order was fake, she has already sent the $1,300 out, and forever lost them to the scam.

The company's web site displayed the Better Business Bureau logo, also fake.

Ann Khalafallah was the headmistress of E.G.C. from 1959 to 1982.

This is an article about her by her daughter, Nawal and her son, Kamal, in the Alex Med publication of the Library of Alexandria, .

Read it at issue 24, Feb-Apr 2009, pages 14 to 16.

The New York Times has an in depth look at NCR's decision to leave its 125 years of history in Dayton, Ohio for Atlanta, Georgia. Read: In a Company’s Hometown, the Emptiness Echoes.

NCR's former headquarters in Dayton was sold to the University of Dayton in December, to house its new research institute.

A British web site dealing with scams has published an interview with a convicted scammer.

One of the interesting tactics is to come back after victims who have paid, and posing as law enforcement and ask for a fee to recover the money already paid.

Here is Part 1, and here is Part 2.