ye-tak-ye-jugak

“Convey from me even if one ayah for it may be that the one being informed will comprehend better that the one listening.” (Al-Bukhari)

Khatib Jumaat yang lepas telah menyampaikan satu point yang menarik. Puasa dari segi nampaknya ialah menahan diri daripada keinginan hawa nafsu (makan, minum, syahwat, dll.). Namun sekiranya difikirkan, keinginan nafsu untuk makan, minum, tidur, bermalas, hubungan suami isteri dll. ini adalah perkara-perkara yang halal di sisi Islam. Puasa adalah menahan diri kita daripada perkara-perkara yang halal.

Gambar hiasan

Jadi, apakah berguna kita menahan diri daripada perkara-perkara yang dibolehkan, sedangkan kita pada masa yang sama melalukan yang salah? Sebagai perbandingan, bayangkan kita menahan diri daripada pergi bermandian di tepi pantai (aktiviti yang kita suka), sedangkan pada masa yang sama, kita mencuri iphone housemate kita secara senyap-senyap? Adakah berguna kita berpuasa dan bersolat malam, tetapi pada masa yang sama kita mengumpat saudara kita?

Takut kita tergolong dalam golongan yang berpuasa tetapi hanya dapat lapar, dahaga dan kepenatan sahaja:
And it was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “It may be that all a fasting person gets from his fast is hunger and thirst, and it may be that all a person who prays at night gets from his prayer is sleeplessness.” Narrated by Ahmad (8693); classed as saheeh by Ibn Hibbaan (8/257) and by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Targheeb (1/262).

Oleh itu, marilah kita perbetulkan niat kita berpuasa, iaitu untuk mencapai ‘ketakwaan’/'to achieve piety’:
“O you who believe! Observing As-Sawm (the fasting) is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become Al-Muttaqoon (the pious)” [al-Baqarah 2:183].

Kita yang banyak berdosa ini, janganlah kita putus mengharap kasih daripada Tuhan:
Say: “O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. [39:53]

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Our Lord comes down to the lowest heaven when one-third of the night remains, and says, ‘Who will call upon Me so that I may answer him? Who will ask Me so that I may give to him? Who will seek My forgiveness so that I may forgive him?’” (Narrated by Muslim, no. 758)

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “When a person repents, Allaah rejoices more than one of you who found his camel after he lost it in the desert.” (Agreed upon. Narrated by al-Bukhaari, no. 6309)

Semoga lembaran Ramadan tahun ini menandakan permulaan baru dalam hidup kita, Insyaallah. Ya Tuhan terimalah puasa kami…

my experience with linux

my experience with linux

first used linux in my final year in mn. Able to use it for school assignments, reports, web surfing, music. Tried with a couple of distributions like redhat, mandrake and finally settled with suse (personal preference). Still have the system back home in msia, although havent had the chance to use it for a while.

Then havent used linux until about a month back. Because when I got my current laptop, it didnt have enough space to support XP and linux, plus I the XP version on my laptop is OEM version, which doesnt allow the key to be used with the retail version, thus I cant reinstall XP with XP installation disk. But the space issue was the main factor.

Last month my hard disk was acting weird, XP was slow. I suspected it was the reoccurring hard disk problem which had gotten more serious, so to be safe I got a new hard drive with bigger capacity. So now I decided to give ubuntu (or any linux distro for that matter), and have sticked with it since.

However, the recent experience is not without challenges, even with my level of familiarity. The main reason for this is my laptop’s display card (ATI Mobility radeon x700) (my laptop is already 3.5 yrs old) has been dropped from support from ATI, where ATI is not updating its Linux driver for my display card anymore. Because of this, the latest version of Ubuntu (version 9.04) cannot exploit the full capability of my display card. This does not mean however that there was any problem with my installation of Ubuntu 9.04 (codenamed Jaunty), it installed fine. But knowing that there’s untapped processing power from my display card just made me to think twice about using linux.

So, to circumvent this quandary, and after many trial and errors (reinstallation of OS, tinkering etc – probably close to 5 reinstallation hehe), I decided to install the previous version of Ubuntu, version 8.04 (codename hardy), which can support the outdated driver. Thus, my display card can use its full potential. As a comparison, using a benchmark application, the generic driver in Jaunty gives me about 2200+ frame per sec (FPS) while the ATI driver used in Hardy gives me 4000+! So the difference in quite major.

I could use Jaunty, it’ll still be useable, but the difference will be noticable especially when I open many applications, there will be some sluggishness in the movement of the windows, when I try to move them around. But hardy is still okay; there isnt much difference, as the normal user I do not notice that much of a difference between the two, just some rename menus, redesigned shutdown box etc, so now with hardy I am very satisfied with my OS.

Ill now tell you of my experience with ubuntu so far. Installation was smooth, detected the existing XP OS in my hard drive, so now I can boot either linux or xp (termed as dual-boot). Set up the necessary partition on my hard disk (basically split my hard disk into XP and linux partitions) and in ½ hrs time its all complete.

Installation was preloaded with all the necessary applications; Openoffice as a replacement of Microsoft Office, Firefox as default browser, Evolution as mail client, music player, Pidgin instant messaging client (for yahoo IM, hotmail etc), GIMP as a image editor (like photoshop) and others. Installation of other open source (free) applications can be done via a simple programs manager (named synaptic) that can download the software straight from the internet. Almost all of the applications that I need are available in linux.

However, I do need Matlab and Scientific workplace for my work, and I dont have the linux version of both. So I had to install an application called ‘Wine’, which makes it possible for me to run Windows applications in linux natively. So now, I can run my matlab installation in XP, in linux! Note however I am not saying that all windows applications can be run in linux, there are limitations. Whereas running Matlab 2006b using wine is possible, I cant run matlab 2008b using wine. And I cant use wine to run scientific workplace. So not all software is possible to be run using wine.

Since I really need scientific workplace to facilitate my work, I had to take the next step. With Virtualbox, I can install a copy of Windows XP in Linux itself! So basically I am running the whole WindowsXP using this virtualization software, and run Scientific workplace in the windows xp (with a small speed penalty). So, problem solved!

As for my day-to-day experience, I just love my desktop. I can customize a lot of things (in terms of function as well as aesthetics), how the windows behave, shortcuts that would have taken me a few steps in Windows. I can organize the way I do my work, a feature call workspace which allow me to have separate desktops, eg. One for work and another for web surfing etc, and I can switch between them easily. (note: microsoft are having these features in their future Windows 7, and many of the features of these OS, are already available in linux!) And the cool effects are amazing, you just have to try it out to see it.

The system is stable, it can handle many applications at once without the delay that i’d experience with windows XP. And because its linux, I dont have to worry about spyware, virus etc, so thats a big plus. To sum up, I am very satisfied with my ubuntu, I dont expect to boot into XP from now on unless it is really really necessary.

(one side that I have not tested is gaming. Some users reports able to run Windows games well in linux, but this depends on case-by-case scenario, so your mileage will vary. See wine’s website for more details).

Now the requirements. In linux, expect sometime to enter some commands via the command line, edit some configuration files manually. Expect to lookup the solution of any questions via google, via the many ubuntu forums and the many how-to’s. If you encounter a problem, most probably someone has already asked the same question. And yeah, you’ll need an internet connection, otherwise it’ll be difficult to download the applications and troubleshoot. And most of the times, patience in trial and error will be wise rather than randomly trying to fix the problem.

But, my advice to you with no linux background, it’s okay, go ahead and try it. Nowadays the linux distributions are more user friendly than ever, even more user friendly than when I first tried it in my senior year. Just make sure you have the backup of your precious documents in a separate external drive, in case you do something catastrophic hehehe. I suggest you to try the LiveCD version, where you can load ubuntu from CD without installing it, and evaluate ubuntu yourself. Note however liveCD version would be slower than the real installation since you are running the OS from the CD drive, which is much slower than the hard drive. Just download the ISO image from ubuntu website, and burn the disk image using your cd burner application. (make sure you choose the correct version, make note if your pc is double core, single core, intel or amd.)

Dont be afraid to try, to install, right click on the desktop panels and add your favorite gadgets. The end result will be satisfying.

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Post-article revision:

Did I oversell it?

On second review, I wish to add two points that I might have missed or should have stressed more or would like to repeat, that may turn you off from switching to ubuntu/linux.

• As linux users only make up to ~1% or less of the total PC users worldwide (approx.), there is little urgency for manufactures of computer appliances eg. Printers, scanners (especially smaller manufacturers) to create linux version of their hardware drivers (drivers is necessary for the appliances to function as designed). Thus you may find some of your hardware incompatible with ubuntu. To give an example, Lexmark printers have a notorious reputation of not working in linux (from my readings). Having said that, linux community has also developed a huge repository of open-source version of drivers, that would make it possible to use the majority of the appliances. Some appliances even would work straight out of the box, without installation of any drivers; the system will automatically recognize it. (My printer, camera, wireless keyboard/mouse works automatically)

• there are many linux software developed as alternatives to its windows-based counterparts (such list is http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/Linux_software_equivalent_to_Windows_software). While some exceed the expectations compared to its windows counterparts by offering additional useful features, some however still leaves much to be desired. For instance in instant messaging applications, I am still unable to get voice call working via Yahoo messenger network. Additional steps are required to use my webcam in messenger, and I still cant find the time to set it up.

These two are the only negative points that I can think of right now. If I recall more I may update this writing later.

So finally, my suggestions for those who are interested in linux and are adventurous, who doesn’t like to conform to the trends of the society, who questions everything and those who always seek if there are other better alternatives, give ubuntu or other linux distros a try. Install ubuntu as a second OS next to Windows XP, and if you dont like it, you will have your XP system ready to boot.

(your mileage may vary).

P/S – For ubuntu, there is a super easy way of trying it, especially designed for Windows users. You can install it with a single click, and allows you to install and uninstall ubuntu like you install/uninstall any other windows application. Check it out at http://wubi-installer.org/ !

Google Reader

Do you read blogs? Do you find yourself checking a particular website (blogs, news portal, etc) many times a day just to see if it’s been updated with new material? I used to click on my bookmarks many, many times a day to see if its updated.

But nowadays, I can check all the websites that I follow just at one place. Introducing Google Reader:

Google Reader in action

With Google Reader, you can see which website that have been updated, and which have not. It can display posts that have yet to be read by you, and hide those you have. So, you’ll save time, and at the same time keep tabs with the latest news and blog entries.

The screen capture above shows Google Reader on my browser. The column on the left shows the websites that I am currently following, and the right column shows my unread entries.

Get it at http://www.google.com/reader and bookmark it today!

Posa2x..

Lagi 2 minggu. Semalam tgk ke langit, bulan penuh. Magnificent.

Hari ni buka posa ngan Nana yg jaga Sarra. Lebanese food, tak tau pa. Belum penah cuba.

This blog is sad….

What to do to raise the “connectivity” of this blog? Off course, from the head-go, surely this blog will die head to head collision with “facebook”.

Friday is coming again, and I dunno what to do…

What you guys do on the weekend? (Top Ten List)

WHat is the ROE for our damn oversea study?

If we polled all the ex-ATU ex-Minne, how many are satisfied in their job?

Who here thinks that whatever they learned in the Uni-times are used, applicable or even useful in their line of work?

Who here thinks that when they came for interview, their current line of work add ups nicely, starting from graduation up to the current job?

Who, amongs all the engineer here, has a patent under his name? Who has created a product other people use?

Who, after 5 years of study, is able to buy at least an apartment through his saving? Who instead have mountain of debt trying to survive with his paycheck?

Having said all that, who thinks that the money government spent to send us oversea is well paid back by us to the society?

Im not trying to say anything, only that the realization that money not well spent is all Im trying to say. What say you?

With Power Comes Money, With Money Comes Men

How is the new look?

Will it spruce things up?

weh azizi, macamana nak add link website lain

ko tau ke camne nak add link$ website lain, nak letak RSS ke, nak letak google mail apps keapa ke kat website nih… tuh pasal website ni mati, aku rasa.