re: Letter to FIFA

2011/07/03
Letter
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Dear FIFA,

I love you people.

I’m an avid fan. (of the sport)
I tune in for the Euro cup every 4 years.
I tune in for the World cup every 4 years.
I watch as players from Premier Leagues and clubs depart for the international fixtures and qualifiers.

But when you do something absolutely ridiculous like banning the Iranian women from 2012 Olympics (Article here) it causes a ripple effect. Like in Quebec. (Article here.)

Isn’t “dress code” one of the points we raise against countries like Saudi Arabia?

As an international Federation you are the sum of your parts and when you choose to disallow a group, when you choose not to take into account teams that want to be part of the “Beautiful Game”. (and it is THE Beautiful Game, if we take out your political bickering and events like these)

Can we just let athletes who want to compete, compete?

The end-user (that’s me!, the viewer) and the provider (it’s not you, it’s the athlete and the teams) must be kept in mind.

Note: I must admit the end-user could be the athlete and the team and the provider (of the referees) is you but the demand is created by viewers like me.

This is frustrating. I hope you realize that.

But people have done crazier things in the name of “liberation”. It’s important however to learn from the mistakes we make. I think you’re making one with the ban of headscarf-wearing female athletes.

Thanks,
Avid Fan

ps. It’s not just Iran, also Jordan. Who knows how many of these stories we aren’t hearing?
pps. This letter was inspired by this.

Why 5th Graders Are Smarter

2011/07/02
Op Eds
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Fifth graders are pretty smart.
Chances are, they’re smarter than you.

Here’s why:
Recess, they understand the power of short breaks.
Breakfast, eating breakfast like a king (or queen) is smart.
Early to bed, early to rise, granted different people are productive at different hours but having a routine is genius. (Even if you don’t do routinely things like bungee jumping.)
Curiosity, at some point we forget that we’re all ignorant. We are. About different subjects and it’s okay to ask questions.
Persistence, at this stage they don’t mind trying new things.
Friendships, are simpler.
Politics, there is very little of it.
Poker face, haven’t met a 5th grader with a good poker face yet.

Google+ is a Plus

2011/06/30
Techno Babble
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After scrounging about the web on websites like Gizmodo and Twitter, I was able to get my hands on a Google Plus invite. At first glance it seems very much like Facebook.
Same old tabs for home, photos, profile. (Plus, circles)

But it isn’t. Well sort of.

Let me explain:
One of the main concepts the Google’s chosen to focus on has been the concept of “circles”. That you really aren’t “friends” with everyone. Some people are acquaintances, some are colleagues you deal with on a day-to-day, some are family members and a small group are your friends, homies and home skillets. This concept isn’t new. Facebook already has lists. However, less than 10% of users use the feature.

(Friend, Family, Acquaintances and Following are basic, you can build your own circles and tribes like Photographers and Brothers.)

A very cool feature of Google Plus is the “hangout” feature, here is what Lifehacker thinks about the video chat feature. The restriction is 10 people which my friend, Wesam pointed out is more than enough for the average user.

I love this as much as this, this and this.

What also appeals to me is the speed at which photos load, the high resolution (compared to Facebook) and the Lightbox is in my opinion even better than Flickr’s. For more on the photography side of things, check out my acquaintance Thomas Hawk’s post here.

It’s a little odd to get a hold of some things. All your private and public messages go on the same stream. But you can choose which circle (and which people) they are visible to. No longer do I have the excuse that, “I check my inbox once a week.”, so far there is nothing similar to the Facebook Poke but the Like button has been replaced by a +1 button.

It’s not Facebook, but it’s designed like it.
It’s not twitter, but you still have the “Following” circle.

Will it work?

Google’s failed before in the realm of “social media”.
There was Google Buzz, Google Wave.
(Pat yourself on the back if you knew about these. No really do it, like this baby.)

I don’t know if it’ll work. But I’m hoping it does.
Fact of the matter is, Google is (by some estimates) more popular than Facebook.
Facebook has approximately 750 million users now, Google has around 1 billion users annually.

How can you escape Google Plus when every time you log into Google.com you see this:

People may just spend more time on Google, rather than going to Facebook or Twitter.

Overall, it’s a little less than Facebook and a little more than twitter.
But I love what I’ve seen so far and now look forward to customizing it.

ps. Thanks to Waterloo University students that sent me the invite.
pps. Google opened up the service to send invites but due to high demand closed it down sometime yesterday, but hold on to your butts, I’m sure they’ll open up soon.

Asad Chishti is a part-time student and full-time dreamer, you can follow him on twitter.
In his spare time, he also takes pictures which can be seen here and here.

The Value of Teachers

2011/06/30
Op Eds
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Everyone has had at some point (I hope) a good teacher.
A great teacher.

Someone who inspired you and helped you on your way.
I’ve been fortunate to have a few.

The unfortunate aspect  of this great teacher is, no one knows what they look like.
There is no “formula” in place that determines which teachers will be great and which won’t.

But a paradigm shift is necessary to help the teachers. It falls on the students too to insure they are “learning”.
Gone are the days of one-way communication, both groups (students and teachers) now have access to an immense amount of resources.

But I think the formula has remained simple and Socrates had it right:
Just listen. Plan to discuss.

Keep your ears and (more importantly!) your mind open to other people’s thoughts.
I know it can be rather tough.

But, brilliance is everywhere.
The kids of today, really want to learn.

The Thing About Labels

2011/06/29
Op Eds
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In recent days there has been a lot of talk about labels.

I’m not talking about the aisles in grocery stores you frequent or hipster shirts. (all labels though)
I’m talking about people.

The Star, (June 2011) talks about a group of grade 8 students who weren’t allowed to attend their graduation dance because of their “bad behavior”.

Lewis Terman’s study of “gifted” kids Psychology Today (Sept 2009) whose average IQ was a fantastic 151 points.

These are a couple of small examples of a much larger problem.
People are often “boxed” in and labeled.

Why do we label? Because it makes life easier.
It’s all too easy to make predictions.

Genius can come from anywhere and everywhere.
It’s high time we learn that.

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