Sharing my Interests...

New Zealand 7s 2010 day two - video

2010-06-17T16:30:00.001+03:00

for those who are looking for good quality rugby videos enjoy this one

i am looking for Day one when i get it i’ll post it here

Our Office Goldfish Aquarium

2010-05-31T13:59:00.001+03:00

These are the resent photos of our aquarium, we got it for 2 months now… the fish are healthy and its very relaxing to have an aquarium in the office.

Total Rugby TV covers first test match of Jordan Rugby

2010-05-25T00:36:00.001+03:00

Jordan rugby 1st test match that was held in Dubai 14th of May 2010 vs Lebanon, Total Rugby TV was there to cover this major step for Jordan Rugby. to view total rugby episode you can visit Jordan rugby website

Looking for English Lyrics for this song: Oso Yparxeis Esi - Amaryllis

2010-02-20T00:50:00.001+02:00

First of all is the below Lyrics are related to this song? Secondly i would appreciate it if you can help in getting the English Lyrics of this song i liked the tune ;)

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Stadium Christchurch ready for Rugby World Cup 2011

2010-01-20T23:04:00.001+02:00

$60 million upgrade boosts capacity to nearly 40,000
Stage set for seven Rugby World Cup 2011 matches
Naming of new Deans Stand reflects ground’s rich Rugby history

Stadium Christchurch today celebrated the completion of its $60 million redevelopment, making it New Zealand’s second largest sporting venue.

A dawn blessing, attended by Prime Minister the Hon. John Key and other dignitaries, marked the official re-opening of the new-look stadium. The new 13,000 seat Deans Stand is the centrepiece of the redevelopment which includes a number of other improvements including an internal concourse linking all sections of the stadium.

The refurbished stadium will host five pool matches and two quarter-final matches for Rugby World Cup 2011 (RWC 2011).

“This is a significant milestone in our preparations for RWC 2011,” said Rugby New Zealand 2011 Limited (RNZ 2011) CEO Martin Snedden who also attended the ceremony.

“The upgrade ensures that Stadium Christchurch will be a showcase venue for RWC 2011. The venue has a long history of hosting top-quality events and the redevelopment will leave a lasting legacy for New Zealand sport and the people of Canterbury to enjoy for years to come.”

The redevelopment has significantly increased the stadium’s permanent capacity to 38,628, bringing it up to international standard. Temporary seating will boost the capacity to nearly 45,000 for RWC 2011.
“I have fond memories of this stadium from my days in international cricket,” said Snedden. “The new stand is very impressive and this, plus the other improvements, have really raised the bar in terms of what teams and spectators can expect in 2011.

“The stage is now set for fans to enjoy a fantastic Rugby experience next year. I congratulate all those involved in redeveloping the stadium into a world-class facility which will play its part in helping New Zealand hold an excellent Tournament.”

The new three tiered Deans Stand which replaces several ageing stands, provides cover for 86 percent of seats and is fittingly named in tribute to the Deans family, considered Canterbury’s “First Family of Rugby”. Its members include most recently former Canterbury and All Blacks player, former Canterbury Crusaders and current Australian coach Robbie Deans. His brother Bruce also played for Canterbury and the All Blacks, as did their great uncle Bob.

Stadium Christchurch is one of country’s oldest sporting venues and witness to great New Zealand Rugby history such as Ian Kirkpatrick’s famous run from halfway to score in the second test against the Lions in 1971.

The original stadium dates back to 1880 when the Canterbury Cricket and Athletics Sports Company purchased ten acres from the estate of Benjamin Lancaster of Bournemouth, England. The sports ground adopted the name Lancaster Park and was officially opened in 1881.
In its early years Lancaster Park hosted a variety of sporting events including trotting, cycling, swimming, tennis and even hot air ballooning. Other notable events include visits by Pope John Paul II (1986) and Queen Elizabeth (1963). During World War I the ground was dug up to grow potatoes to support the war effort.

Today, the stadium hosts a number of international sporting fixtures, in particular Rugby and cricket, as well as concerts by world-renowned artists.

Represent Jordan in Asian Olympics 2010

2009-12-19T23:56:00.001+02:00

Jordan Rugby is recruiting, send your request here http://www.jordanrugby.com/join-jordan-rugby.html if you would like to represent Jordan & play rugby in the coming Asian Olympics 2010, China.

Please share this with all your friends

SEO - Cutting Through the Clutter to Get You Results

2009-12-16T15:41:00.001+02:00

Today i have received this great article read through & enjoy your SEO

If you had to guess, how many websites would you say are in the world? One million? Ten million? Internet experts differ wildly in their estimates.

Guesses range from between one hundred million to more than three hundred million active websites today. So with all this competition, how are you going to get your website noticed?
The answer is clear: Search Engine Optimization.
What is Search Engine Optimization? Basically, it is industry speak for anything that makes your site more attractive to search engines. Websites like Google, Bing, Yahoo!, and others send out programs called "crawlers." These "crawlers" search for new websites and content. When they find anything new, they add it to their database and make it possible for people to find it using them. This is called indexing. But you have to do it correctly, or Google will skip right past you.
For example, let's say you own a small shoe company called Seattle Treks. You just put up a website. How can you make sure people find you on Google?

1.) Be sure the purpose of your site is clear.
In the code of your site, there is a place for "meta" information. This is the information that Google and other search engines look for first. There are two types of meta information: Meta descriptions and meta tags (more on meta tags in step 2). The meta description is what people read below your name in Google. Describe the purpose of your site and your company in a short, succinct phrase. "Seattle Treks - Buy fine custom footwear made in Seattle, Washington" will attract Google and tell people what to expect from your site.

2.) Fill in the meta tags.
These are words that are associated with what you are. They go in the code on the main index page of your site. These words give Google clues as to what your site is about. If people type these clue words into Google, your site will pop up. So for your imaginary shoe company, you would put words like "shoes, usa made shoes, leather shoes, hiking books, A-TRAK shoes, treks, treks seattle, shoes seattle, outdoor shoes," etc.
Try to picture the words people might type into Google. This SEO work will ensure that when people are looking for shoes made in USA, or maybe for hiking boots, your website will pop up. Every site, no matter what it is for, needs to have solid meta tag information.

3.) Put dynamic content on your site.
This means anything that changes. The Internet is like a pile of sand that you have to keep climbing and climbing. The moment you stop going up, you start sliding down. So add content to your site constantly. The more new content you have, the more often Google's crawlers come by. The more often they come, the more often you get indexed. The more you get indexed, the higher you show in the search results. This is why big companies pay lots of money for SEO experts to keep them on top.
How can you have dynamic content? Easy. Start a blog. Blogs are a painless way to add new content. Talk about your new shoe models. Take pictures of your community activities and write about them. Add to your blog at least once a month. Be sure that when Google comes around again, it finds a lot of new things to index.

4.) In the writing of your site, be keyword rich.
What does that mean? It's SEO speak for having a lot of the words that Google looks for. For example, images are an often overlooked keyword opportunity. Don't call a picture of your new shoe "img3.jpg." Try "new_shoe_model_XTRAC4_seattle_treks_shoe.jpg." If someone searches any of those words on Google, chances are good they will stumble across your picture and come to your site.
When you write on the site, use lots of keywords. "Our shoes are made right here in Seattle, using the finest nubuck and space-age materials," will help Google. Keep that in mind when you write on your blog, and be sure to put "tags" on your entries.

5.) Set up company pages with Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc.
Backlink them to your site and add as many friends as you can. Google loves sites that link to other sites.

6.) Make a site map.
This is an .xml file that goes in the root directory of your site and tells Google what all the pages are for. If you don't understand .xml, it's probably something you should have an expert do.

7.) Use a Search Engine Optimization service.
These people are experts who know how to make search engines find you. They can also help you to create a site map.

About the Author: Troy Childers - For more information, or to get started on your SEO campaign now, visit http://www.magicseoservices.com.

New Zealand reveal cost of tickets for 2011 World Cup

2009-12-10T12:42:00.001+02:00

WELLINGTON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Organizers of the 2011 World Cup released ticket pricing on Friday that they hoped would counter the rising costs of hosting the event and have local families flocking to stadiums. Tickets, which go on sale in April, will start at NZ$15 ($11) for children and NZ$30 for adults for many pool matches, with the final at Eden Park in Auckland to cost between NZ$390 to NZ$1250.

"We believe the ticketing policy will result in each match being played in front of full venues, showcasing New Zealand's love of rugby and its place as a host of major international events," tournament chief executive Martin Snedden said in a statement.

"Although tickets for knockouts and major pool matches are expensive by New Zealand standards, we have been able to price two-thirds of matches at or below existing test match prices."

Organizers will also allow buyers to pay for their tickets in installments to lure them to more expensive games at the knockout stages.

"We're conscious that ticket prices for some matches will be well beyond what Kiwis are used to paying so we are introducing a payment plan that will allow those who pay for their tickets on a credit or debit card to be able to do so in installments," Snedden said.

With the International Rugby Board (IRB) retaining all commercially generated income as well as taking a NZ$150 million ($104.3 million) hosting fee, New Zealand must rely largely on ticket sales to cover the cost of hosting the tournament.

Although ticket revenue has been projected at NZ$280 million, organizers expect to post a NZ$30 million operating loss.

Kish Rugby 7s results

2009-12-04T01:38:00.001+02:00

finally here are the final results of Kish Island Rugby sevens 2009 as of Jordan Rugby News page

Final
Kish	7 – 15	Iran
Plate Final
Georgia	18 – 19	Jordan
Day 1 Results
Georgia	0 – 24	Iran
Kish	15 – 7	Jordan
Georgia	5 – 19	Kish
Iran	26 – 0	Jordan
Georgia	14 – 0	Jordan
Iran	26 – 7	Kish

As you can see Jordan was unlucky in this tournament due to the fact that we didn't have any subs therefore our players had to play all games without resting, while other teams had fresh players coming into the game every 2-3 minutes! But i was proud of my team performance we showed great commitment and played very well.

Well played Jordan

2009-11-24T13:33:00.001+02:00

i have just arrived from the very very long trip back home from Kish Island, Jordan Rugby has participated in it &bi am so tired to post all tournament details but the final standings are as follow:

Iran Rugby Union.
Kish Island.
Georgia.
Jordan Rugby Union.

unfortunately we have ended last in the first Asian Rugby Sevens for Jordan but the guys played amazing rugby this week end and i am proud playing our first international tournament with them, i will be posting more details later on & after tomorrow we will be travelling to sri lanka sevens wish us luck :)

Asian Rugby Sevens Series latest standings

2009-11-02T10:12:00.001+02:00

Asian Rugby Sevens Series standings
1 Japan
2 Korea
3 Hong Kong
4 China
5 Chinese Taipei
6 Thailand
7 Malaysia
8 India
9 Philippines
10 Sri Lanka
10 Guam
11 Singapore
12 Brunei
13 Indonesia

The Remaining Tournaments for 2009 Rugby Sevens Series:

Kish Island Sevens, Iran - November 20-22
Sri Lanka Sevens, November 28-29

Asian Rugby Sevens Series is still on & hot!!!

2009-10-27T17:54:00.001+03:00

The newly formed Ruby Sevens Series is still running as scheduled with interesting results from teams like Malaysia who dominated its first Asian Rugby Sevens Series in Brunei to go undefeated and triumph in the final against Philippines 28-7.

After dominating its Brunei pool on day one with wins against Laos, India, Philippines and the hosts, Malaysia started day two equally strongly with an emphatic 47-0 win over Brunei to book a place in the final against the other form team, Philippines, who beat Laos 48-0.

In the Cup final, the Philippines were in contention for much of the match but the Malaysians proved the stronger side, eventually winning 28-7.

Lower down the competition, hosts Brunei continued their strong form, running India close 12-5 before upending fourth seeds Laos.

Having hit top form, the Malaysians must now prepare to play on home soil in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo on 31 October and 1 November, in the Series' fourth event.

The Asian Rugby Sevens Series started in September 2009 in Shanghai, China, where Korea were the inaugural Cup winners.

Remaining Fixtures of Asian Rugby Sevens Series:

Borneo Sevens, Kota Kinabalu - October 31 - November 1.
Kish Island Sevens, Iran - November 20-22.
Sri Lanka Sevens, November 28-29. (Jordan Rugby will be there).

Brunei Results:

Day one
Philippines	14 - 12	India
Malaysia	47 - 0	Laos
Philippines	35 - 0	Brunei
Malaysia	31 - 5	India
Laos	0 - 31	Brunei
Malaysia	36 - 5	Philippines
India	38 – 0	Laos
Brunei	0 – 52	Malaysia

Day two
Philippines	48-0	Laos
Brunei	5-12	India
(4th/5th play-off)
Brunei	27-10	Laos
Philippines	10 – 0	India
Malaysia	47 – 0	Brunei
Plate Final
India	34 – 5	Brunei
Cup Final
Malaysia	28 – 7	Philippines

I will start looking for Asian Rugby Sevens Rankings

How to Boost Your Site's SEO

2009-10-22T12:34:00.001+03:00

Search engine optimization (SEO) will help your site rank highly in popular search engine results.
Search engine optimization is the act of optimizing a website (in terms of code, content and links) to increase traffic from major search engines, like Google, Yahoo! and Bing.

What Do Search Engines Look For?
Search engines index content on the web with computer programs called "bots," which move through websites by "crawling" from link to link. In order to provide the most useful search results, search engines assess pages in terms of:

Relevance: The relevance of content on a site depends on how closely it matches a search query. A site's content is considered more relevant when the queried terms appear in the title or headings of the content and HTML tags.
Popularity: A website's importance is measured by the number of times other sites link back to it. These are called backlinks, and when they come from a highly respected site, like the New York Times, for example, they carry more weight.

Five Ways to Boost SEO
There are lots of ways to improve how high your site ranks on major search engines, and we've highlighted five to get you started:

1) Add Unique Content to Your Site

2) Place Keywords in Key Places

3) Create a Sitemap

Google Webmaster Tools

4) Add Links with Strong Anchor Text

http://www.google.com/webmasters/:

Strong anchor text:

Google Webmaster Tools

Weak anchor text:

here

5) Submit Your Site to Search Engines

Gold

Platinum

Search engine optimization takes time, but sticking with it will help establish a strong visitor base for your site, or expand your online business through increased sales.

Results of the first event of Asian Rugby Sevens Series

2009-09-24T13:34:00.001+03:00

Korea taste success in Asian Sevens Series

IRB.com: Korea overcame their fiercest rivals and top seeds Japan twice in two days to win the Shanghai Sevens in China, the first event on the new Asian Rugby Sevens Series, thanks to an emphatic 42-19 victory in the final on Sunday.

Check those close results of Day One between Japan, Korea and Hong Kong also the unlucky Singapore and India who lost all their first day games! i wonder if Jordan joined that tournament where it would be placed!

Day One
Japan	36	0	Singapore
Hong Kong	38	0	Singapore
China	55	0	India
Thailand	7	26	Sri Lanka
Korea	51	0	Singapore
Chinese Taipei	33	0	India
Japan	38	5	Thailand
Hong Kong	26	17	Korea
China	35	5	Chinese Taipei
Thailand	19	7	India
Hong Kong	42	7	Sri Lanka
Japan	17	28	Korea
Singapore	10	7	India
Chinese Taipei	17	10	Sri Lanka
China	17	17	Korea

Day Two
Thailand	17	24	Singapore
Japan	33	5	China
Hong Kong	21	5	Chinese Taipei
China	48	0	Singapore
Sri Lanka	19	26	<<Missing from the Source>>

Semi Finals
Hong Kong	5	17	Japan
Korea	12	10	Chinese Taipei
China	21	0	India
Singapore	0	31	India

	Finals
7th Place Play-off	India	10	38	Sri Lanka
5th Place Play-off (Plate Final)	China	59	5	Thailand
3rd Place Play-off	Hong Kong	31	10	Chinese Taipei
FINAL	Korea	42	19	Japan

Congrates for Korea & Hard luck for the rest and lets see who will win Subic Sevens, Philippines - October 10-11

Fast Flip for Google News

2009-09-15T10:14:00.003+03:00

Google on Monday released an experimental new content browser called Fast Flip that makes it possible to see a curated set of content sites using a physical "turn the pages" metaphor. Fast Flip pages are cached by Google and load very quickly, which is cool. And if your brain is stuck in 1969 and you want to pretend that new-fangled computer in front of you is a microfilm reader, it'll feel natural to use.

Fast Flip is a good solution for putting a magazine or newspaper online, and it makes scanning even a more modern Web feed really fast. But it still feels forced. It's an intermediate online format that gives you an experience that's even more linear than a print publication, and it provides less overall context than you can get from a moderately well-design Web site.

I believe it’s an amazing tool & I wish it will be adopted by our local newspapers soon.

Check Google Fast Flip here

Or Read more from the source Cnet

That's our Hooker... Go go Jalajel

2009-09-13T10:18:00.006+03:00

On Sep 11 2009 Published in The National, a new English newspaper launched by the Abu Dhabi Media Company.

Dubai Exiles enjoy their iftar feast with a deluge of points

DUBAI // The iftar enjoyed by Ghaith Jalajel, the Jordanian hooker, will have tasted even sweeter than usual yesterday evening.

The Dubai Exiles No 2 touched down in time just as his try all but sealed a 42-14 opening day Gulf Cup victory over Muscat.

Jalajel’s score, which put the Exiles 26-0 up, followed shortly after sunset and he celebrated by breaking his day-long fast with a well-earned banana. A dramatic storm just before kick-off did little to affect the preparedness of the winning team as strong winds blew down the fence that rings the neighbouring netball court at The Sevens, and there was even some unseasonal rainfall.

Jalajel’s front-row colleague Chris Deacon also went over for the victors and John Beeton dotted down in the corner.

The rest of the scoring was left to Paul Beard, the Arabian Gulf full-back, whose 27-point haul included two tries.

Here is the original post

Good one YAMAN, it's really hilarious

2009-09-11T16:50:00.005+03:00

Yaman who tried to play rugby with us (in Jordan Rugby Team) tend to like commenting on sports rather than playing it. Check this out...

IBM Scientists Use DNA Scaffolding To Build Tiny Circuit Boards

2009-08-18T10:32:00.001+03:00

San Jose, CA - 17 Aug 2009:

Scientists at IBM Research and the California Institute of Technology announced a scientific advancement that could be a major breakthrough in enabling the semiconductor industry to pack more power and speed into tiny computer chips, while making them more energy efficient and less expensive to manufacture.

IBM researchers and collaborator Paul W.K. Rothemund, of the California Institute of Technology, have made an advancement in combining lithographic patterning with self assembly – a method to arrange DNA origami structures on surfaces compatible with today’s semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

Today, the semiconductor industry is faced with the challenges of developing lithographic technology for feature sizes smaller than 22 nm and exploring new classes of transistors that employ carbon nanotubes or silicon nanowires. IBM’s approach of using DNA molecules as scaffolding -- where millions of carbon nanotubes could be deposited and self-assembled into precise patterns by sticking to the DNA molecules – may provide a way to reach sub-22 nm lithography.

The utility of this approach lies in the fact that the positioned DNA nanostructures can serve as scaffolds, or miniature circuit boards, for the precise assembly of components – such as carbon nanotubes, nanowires and nanoparticles – at dimensions significantly smaller than possible with conventional semiconductor fabrication techniques. This opens up the possibility of creating functional devices that can be integrated into larger structures, as well as enabling studies of arrays of nanostructures with known coordinates.

“The cost involved in shrinking features to improve performance is a limiting factor in keeping pace with Moore’s Law and a concern across the semiconductor industry,” said Spike Narayan, manager, Science & Technology, IBM Research - Almaden. “The combination of this directed self-assembly with today’s fabrication technology eventually could lead to substantial savings in the most expensive and challenging part of the chip-making process.”

The techniques for preparing DNA origami, developed at Caltech, cause single DNA molecules to self assemble in solution via a reaction between a long single strand of viral DNA and a mixture of different short synthetic oligonucleotide strands. These short segments act as staples - effectively folding the viral DNA into the desired 2D shape through complementary base pair binding. The short staples can be modified to provide attachment sites for nanoscale components at resolutions (separation between sites) as small as 6 nanometers (nm). In this way, DNA nanostructures such as squares, triangles and stars can be prepared with dimensions of 100 – 150 nm on an edge and a thickness of the width of the DNA double helix.

The lithographic templates were fabricated at IBM using traditional semiconductor techniques, the same used to make the chips found in today's computers, to etch out patterns. Either electron beam or optical lithography were used to create arrays of binding sites of the proper size and shape to match those of individual origami structures. Key to the process were the discovery of the template material and deposition conditions to afford high selectivity so that origami binds only to the patterns of "sticky patches" and nowhere else.

The paper on this work, “Placement and orientation of DNA nanostructures on lithographically patterned surfaces,” by scientists at IBM Research and the California Institute of Technology, will be published in the September issue of Nature Nanotechnology and is currently available at: http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nnano.2009.220.html.

IBM Press Release 17 Aug 2009

QUOTABLE RUGBY QUOTES

2009-08-13T11:02:00.001+03:00

"Nobody in Rugby should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein." - Jono Gibbs – Chiefs
"I'm going to graduate on time, no matter how long it takes." – Rodney So'ialo - Hurricanes - on University
"You guys line up alphabetically by height." and "You guys pair up in groups of three, then line up in a circle." - Colin Cooper - Hurricanes head coach
Chris Masoe (Hurricanes) on whether he had visited the Pyramids during his visit to Egypt: "I can't really remember the names of the clubs that we went to."
"He's a guy who gets up at six o'clock in the morning regardless of what time it is." - Colin Cooper on Paul Tito
Kevin Senio (Auckland), on Night Rugby vs Day Games "It's basically the same, just darker."
David Nosafora (Auckland) talking about Troy Flavell "I told him, 'Son, what is it with you. Is it ignorance or apathy?' He said, 'David, I don't know and I don't care.'
David Holwell (Hurricanes) when asked about the upcoming season: "I want to reach for 150 or 200 points this season, whichever comes first."
"Andy Ellis - the 21 year old, who turned 22 a few weeks ago"(Murray Mexted)
"Colin has done a bit of mental arithmetic with a calculator." (Ma Nonu)
"He scored that try after only 22 seconds - totally against the run of play." (Murray Mexted)
"We actually got the winning try three minutes from the end but then they scored." (Phil Waugh Warratah)
"I've never had major knee surgery on any other part of my body." (Jerry Collins)
"That kick was absolutely unique, except for the one before it which was identical." (Tony Brown)
"I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and father." (Tana Umaga)
"Sure there have been injuries and deaths in rugby - but none of them serious." (Doc Mayhew)
"If history repeats itself, I should think we can expect the same thing again."(Anton Oliver)
"I would not say he (Rico Gear) is the best left winger in the Super 14, but there are none better." (Murray Mexted)
"I never comment on referees and I'm not going to break the habit of a lifetime for that prat." (Ewan McKenzie)
Murray Deaker: "Have you ever thought of writing your autobiography?" Tana Umaga: "On what?"
"Well, either side could win it, or it could be a draw."(Murray Mexted)
"Strangely, in slow motion replay, the ball seemed to hang in the air for even longer."(Murray Mexted)

Test run from Amman to Zarqa!

2009-08-09T14:24:00.002+03:00

Train service to operate between Amman and Zarqa during Ramadan

AMMAN (Petra) –– A train service will operate on a daily basis between Amman and Zarqa during Ramadan, the Public Transport and Regulatory Commission (PTRC) announced on Saturday. In cooperation with the Jordan Hijaz Railway Corporation, the measure seeks to reduce traffic jams during the holy month. The train service is part of measures the PTRC will take during Ramadan to enhance the quality of public transport and reduce traffic jams during rush hours, PTRC Director General Jamil Mujahed said on Saturday. He noted that train schedules and ticket prices will be announced later.

It's really interesting to read such piece of news in the morning but the question is: do they really want to kill the traffic jam or it's just a test run to check how they should operate the real Amman-Zarqa train which is still "under study phase"! Either ways it's a great work from PTRC we need such transportation in Amman & Jordan.

Is Milk Really Healthy for You? Learn the Facts

2009-07-28T11:47:00.002+03:00

I was shocked this morning when I read an article from Menshealth that "Milk is a deadly poison" but they continue: it's according to the Dairy Education Board. In fact, if you peruse this special interest group's Web site, you'll find dozens of articles about the purported evils of this popular beverage. One claim, for example, is that milk from cows contains cancer-causing hormones and dairy industry dollars have kept that fact bottled up. All of which may leave you second-guessing your next sip.

The author continues: However, as a nutritionist, I've found that most men thrive on milk, whether their goal is to lose fat or build muscle. So to be sure it's safe, I've investigated all the anti-milk claims, sifting through the research while also turning a critical eye to pro-milk propaganda. After all, the only agenda I have is my clients' health.

As a rugby player who is interested in building muscles and most importantly loosing the extra fat I really like this article and here are the summarized findings:

Milk as a FAT-Burning Food:

Maybe. In a 6-month study, University of Tennessee researchers found that overweight people who downed three servings a day of calcium-rich dairy lost more belly fat than those who followed a similar diet minus two or more of the dairy servings.

In addition, the researchers discovered that calcium supplements didn't work as well as milk. Why? They believe that while calcium may increase the rate at which your body burns fat, other active compounds in dairy products (such as milk proteins) provide an additional fat-burning effect.

Of course, the key to success is following a weight-loss diet to begin with. After all, downing your dairy with a box of doughnuts is no way to torch your gut.

Does It Build Muscle?

Absolutely. In fact, milk is one of the best muscle foods on the planet. You see, the protein in milk is about 20 percent whey and 80 percent casein. Both are high-quality proteins, but whey is known as a "fast protein" because it's quickly broken down into amino acids and absorbed into the bloodstream. That makes it a very good protein to consume after your workout.

Casein, on the other hand, is digested more slowly. So it's ideal for providing your body with a steady supply of smaller amounts of protein for longer periods of time—like between meals or while you sleep. Since milk provides both, one big glass gives your body an ideal combination of muscle-building proteins.

Do Hormones Make Milk Unhealthy?

Not unless you're injecting the milk. Here's the full story: In 1993 the FDA approved the use of recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) in cattle. This practice resulted in greater milk production at less cost to the dairy farmer, a savings that has been passed on to you at your local supermarket. But it has also sparked much controversy, because rBGH boosts milk's concentration of insulin-like growth factor (IGF), a hormone that's been linked to cancer.

Unlike steroid hormones, which can be taken orally, rBGH and IGF must be injected to have any effect. That's because the process of digestion destroys these "protein" hormones. So drinking milk from hormone-treated cows doesn't transfer the active form of these chemicals to your body. However, there is one ethical downside to consider: It's not good for the cows. Canadian researchers discovered that cows given hormones are more likely to contract an udder infection called mastitis.

What About Antibiotics?

No one really knows. Some scientists argue that milk from cows given antibiotics leads to antibiotic resistance in humans, making these types of drugs less effective when you take them for an infection. But this finding has never been proved.

If you're uneasy, you can purchase antibiotic-free (and typically hormone-free, as well) milk from specialty grocers, such as Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, or select USDA-certified organic milk, which is available at most supermarkets.

Here in Jordan you have to contact a farmer to get such milk which I believe it would be the best choice that eliminate all above mentioned fears, I recall when I was a little kid when the milk man used to come to our door step pouring milk for us it wasn't even bottled and it was extremely rich, because after you put it in the fridge you can see the cream on milk surface (which I dnt like).

Skim or Whole?

It depends on your taste. While you've probably always been told to drink reduced-fat milk, the majority of scientific studies show that drinking whole milk actually improves cholesterol levels, just not as much as drinking skim does.

One recent exception: Danish researchers found that men who consumed a diet rich in whole milk experienced a slight increase in LDL cholesterol (six points). However, it's worth noting that these men drank six 8-ounce glasses a day, an unusually high amount. Even so, their triglycerides--another marker of heart-disease risk—decreased by 22 percent.

The bottom line: Drinking two to three glasses of milk a day, whether it's skim, 2 percent, or whole, lowers the likelihood of both heart attack and stroke—a finding confirmed by British scientists.

If you're dieting, the lower-fat option is an easy way to save a few calories. When it comes to building muscle, though, whole milk may be your best choice: Scientists at the University of Texas medical branch in Galveston found that drinking whole milk after lifting weights boosted muscle protein synthesis—an indicator of muscle growth—2.8 times more than drinking skim did.

Amazon.com $850 million Acquisition of Zappos.com

2009-07-23T14:26:00.003+03:00

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul. 22, 2009-- Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire Zappos.com, Inc. a leader in online apparel and footwear sales that strives to provide shoppers with the best possible service and selection. The acquisition brings together two companies who share a passion for serving customers and whose customers benefit from cultures of innovation and long term thinking.

"Zappos is a customer focused company," said Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "We see great opportunities for both companies to learn from each other and create even better experiences for our customers."

Under the terms of the agreement, Amazon will acquire all of the outstanding shares and assume all outstanding options and warrants of Zappos in exchange for approximately 10 million shares of Amazon common stock, equal to approximately $807 million based on the average closing price for the 45 trading days ending July 17, 2009. In addition, Amazon will provide Zappos employees with $40 million in cash and restricted stock units. Subject to various closing conditions, the acquisition is expected to close during the Fall of 2009.

Following the acquisition, the Zappos management team will remain intact and Zappos will operate its successful brand, customer experience and unique culture of service independently with headquarters in Las Vegas, NV.

"We are joining forces with Amazon because there is a huge opportunity to utilize each other's strengths and move even faster towards our vision of delivering happiness to customers, employees and vendors," said Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos. "We will continue to build the Zappos brand and culture in our own unique way, and we believe Amazon is the best partner to help us do this over the long term."

BOTHA is convicted

2009-07-23T12:47:00.004+03:00

Check this video of Bakkies Botha clearing the ruck which i believe it's a penalty but shouldn't be considered as a dangerous play.

I have checked IRB Laws website to make sure if botha should be convicted or not, therefore according to the below clause it was a penalty but shouldn't be considered as "Dangerous Play".

16.2 JOINING A RUCK

All players forming, joining or taking part in a ruck must have their heads and shoulders no lower than their hips.
Penalty: Free Kick
A player joining a ruck must bind onto the ruck with at least one arm around the body of a team-mate, using the whole arm. (unfortunately Botha didn't)
Penalty: Penalty Kick
Placing a hand on another player in the ruck does not constitute binding.
Penalty: Penalty Kick
All players forming, joining or taking part in a ruck must be on their feet.
Penalty: Penalty Kick

Rugby is a tough game & anyone plays it expects to go home injured but I dnt believe that botha's act should be condemned as a dangerous play because Adam Jones has dislocated his shoulder!

The ref should be strict in these situations but this was an extreme call, Imagine RUGBY without rucks! I have to switch to golf or face painting after that ;)

Springboks wore 'Justice' armbands for the third Test against the British and Irish Lions in protest at Bakkies Botha's two-week suspension, and they got themselves charged by the International Rugby Board!!! Why they did that!!!

The Giant Google is sniffing potential market in the region

2009-04-20T16:00:00.002+03:00

The Middle East and North Africa, where Internet usage is relatively low compared to Europe and the US, could see a large growth in Internet penetration rates in 2010, said members of a Google delegation touring the region Thursday.

The four-member delegation is on a fact-finding mission in the Arab world to gauge business opportunities. They have already visited the West Bank and are currently in Lebanon in a tour that will also take them to Jordan, Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

"The Middle East and North Africa hold a very high possibility to be the largest growth region in 2010" when it comes to Internet penetration, said Mohammad Gawdat, Google's managing director for emerging Europe, Middle East and Africa, during an interview in Beirut.

Despite being a relatively heavily populated and oil-rich region, Internet penetration in the Middle East is still small compared to European countries or the United States where penetration rates are as high as 90 per cent.

In the past, telecommunication infrastructure was not very developed in the Arab world, and until recently dial-up service was the only way to access the Internet. Recently, Arab countries have begun offering DSL and ADSL services at cheaper prices making the Internet more widely accessible.

Ahmad S. Hamzawi, Google's engineering manager in the Middle East and North Africa, said Internet usage grew more than 1,000 per cent in the Middle East between 2000 and 2007. But he said it varied widely by country. For example, only about 12 per cent of Egypt's population has Internet access while Internet penetration in the UAE is about 55 per cent.

Gawdat would not give figures on how much money the Mountain View, California-based company plans to invest in the region. Google currently has offices in Egypt, United Arab Emirate and Saudi Arabia, he said.

Gawdat said one of the main problems in the Arab world, or Arabia as its called at Google, is that the region has not traditionally been on the forefront of developing new technologies, but that is beginning to change.

"The biggest challenge that needs to be overcome is for people here to do it [new technologies] first, and some entrepreneurs are beginning to do this," he said.

Another challenge is the lack of information in Arabic on the Internet, said Hamzawi. Less than one per cent of all the information on the web is available in Arabic while Arabic-language users of the Internet account for about 5 per cent of people using the web. He said this shows there is a "thirst for information in Arabic". The delegation members were optimistic about the future of the region.

"There are more 320 million Arabic speakers around the world. It is a significant market by all means," Gawdat said.

Source: Jordan Times

Internet Penetration in the Middle East

2009-04-19T14:21:00.010+03:00

Internet users are thriving in the Middle East with very big percentages in Growth Rate; I believe it’s now time to invest Dinars in there!

According to Internet World Stats the top gainers in terms of growth are Syria, Iran, and Saudi Arabia with growth rate/population 11466.70%, 9100.00%, 3090.00% respectively, Syrians were open to internet in 2000 and they are working on expanding their networks throughout the country. Jordan were placed in the middle of the 13 countries list with 785.1% Growth from 2007 – 2008 where number of internet users in Jordan were estimated in 2008 around 1,126,700 while in 2007 they were 796,900 also its worth to mention that back in 2000 number of internet users in Jordan was "127,300" so well DONE JORDAN!

Having these great growth percentages makes the Middle East a great developing region in the field of Internet but where they are compared to the world? From the same website a pie chart shows the percentages of Middle East internet users who form only 2.9% of the rest of the world! Never the less in comparison of world's growth to Middle East the development in Middle East region is way ahead with 1,296.2% User Growth (2000-2008) while 327.3 for the rest of the world.

I am still in the process of formulating a decent report about the viability of E-Commerce websites in Middle East Region and the effect of Social Media as key success factors for such websites to strive.

Review JordanRugby.com popularity

2008-09-22T01:19:00.002+03:00

In my previous post I have set the initial values of JordanRugby website and now I want to list the new updates in regard of its popularity:

According to Alexa.com in the last post our rugby team website PageRank was ranked 12,700,000 today it is its 8,222,694 with a 35% improvement in its PageRank, this improvement was after having the website listed in several directories & most importantly dmoz.org which has the major effect in this improvement to reach this growth rate.

The next step after having it listed in several directories I have used a bunch of tags those were the same in each page in order to test the effectiveness of similar tags for each page, let's see after a week from now if the PageRank will be affected?

The current numbers for the website are:

	Date
	August 15, 2008	September 22, 2008	Difference
Visits	391	581	32%
Unique Visitors	195	327	40%
Page Views	2,090	2,930	28%

Still working on increasing the website's popularity will display the new results soon.

My Future Task, Get the 5

2008-08-15T22:27:00.008+03:00

While working on my thesis and going thru SEO (Search Engine Optimization) SMO (Social Media Optimization) and PageRanks i went to look up the PageRank of our team's website! To tell the truth i was shocked to see that it was ZERO ;) because i am the webmaster of those websites (Jordanrugby.com, jrfc.org).

JordanRugby.com is pretty new website launched May this year. So i have decided once i am done from my thesis in mid September i have to start working on raising Jordan Rugby website to a higher PageRanks, as for today Jordan Rugby stats are:

391 Visits
195 Unique Visitors
2,090 Page views

I asked myself would you want the new PageRank to be 9 as i have checked the rank of Facebook's today? Definitely not! i am not that crazy so below is the list of websites that we share same interests’, and we are in the same region all together therefore am going to decide our magic number based on that.

As what the results shows it seems that we as Jordan Rugby are inactive in the web sphere just like our friends in Syria the zenobians, but unlike our mates across our neighboring continent Cairo & Alexandria's team they have a pretty high page rank compared with us.

i have included two important websites: AGRFU the governing body of rugby in the region and IRB the International Rugby Board to help me decide where we should go, for sure i would love to hit the 9 as Facebook but to benchmark i looked around us.

That’s why i have decided to go for (5), a very reasonable number in regard of the surrounding websites, we mostly win each and every game we play now our game is online ;)
To get over there am thinking now that we have to get more active in social network sites from which we will be able to generate more traffic into our website plus having a youtube channel for our rugby team does not sound like a bad idea since ppl spend most of their time over there!
In 3 months time I will go back to review where we will be and let us hope its much more than ZERO !!!
Cheers… & Long Live Jordan Rugby

Technorati Post

2008-08-14T23:46:00.000+03:00

i have to do it in order technorati recognize me !!!
Technorati Profile

Trying to know how many SNS we have up until now

2008-07-24T14:02:00.005+03:00

Number of social network sites is going up and up, as part of my thesis research in order to find how viable for entrepreneurs and SME's to invest in building applications on SNS i have first to find numbers, ratios of how big is this market? That was my prof. exact words, the knowledgeable Prof. G. Yovanof.

So i went to this article "List of Social Networking Sites" on Wikipedia last week 17th of july and started to extract the information from that wonderful list but they lacked a piece of information like the year where each website was launched, with a help of a very special person to me she started parsing the table one by one to provide me stats like the number of SNS launched each year from 1996 until today. i owe her a lot she saved me a lot of time, merci.

Currently am working on finding the number of SNS users throughout those years in a way to strengthen my argument when i present my thesis end of august.

Usefull resources about Social Network Sites

2008-07-21T00:03:00.009+03:00

During my quest to find good reliable resources for my thesis research i found these papers that i thought it would be a great idea to provide them all in one location to ease the process for other researchers - no need to thank me its all there on the internet am just facilitating.

The first one entitled by "Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship" by boyd, d. m., & Ellison, N. B. it helped me a lot in building the first part of my thesis where i have tried to define social network & its history then i listed general features of SNS with description about each one of them.

"FUTURE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING by Richard Longair" A short paper but yet up to the point that is concerned about the future of SNS as it title clearly show.

"Online Social and Business Networking Communities" a rich paper that tackles SNS from various aspects from a definition to a brief history up to summarizing various SNS features also a description of various SNS business models is alos provided.

"Overview of business models for Web 2.0 communities" & "Web 2.0 and Business" are both on my analysis to do list but didnt have the chance to go through them yet.

Good Luck

Jordan won the game against the Zenobians

2008-06-21T11:17:00.003+03:00

The Zenobians arrived at the grass pitch of Petra University on the 6th of June to play their away game in Jordan with only 8 players, that’s when the referee made his call to disqualify the Zenobians since 8 players are not enough to play a rugby 15s game and Jordan Rugby gained 5 points & 1 extra League point. Even though Jordan Rugby and the Zenobians decided to play a "Friendly" 10s game where Jordan won the game 57 - 5.

So now all the teams participating in the Mashreq League has 5 points each, for more details about the tournament table please check the table on Jordan Rugby WebSite.

Finals are Done !!!

2008-05-09T00:49:00.000+03:00

After a hell week of reading & reading now we are done from our final exams, few project presentations are left but no more studying after today ;)

Social Networking, is it only a Marketing tool or a platform for new Business Models?

2008-05-06T21:14:00.000+03:00

That is my approved thesis that i will be working on this summer while humming around the greek islands. My professor Gregory Yovanof is very interested and looking forward to publish it if "i managed" to make it a good one.

Thesis Abstract: Social networking services are currently booming. Advertisment revenues are exceeding the advertisment revenues of the giant google.com. The skyrocekting numbers of subscribers are doubling every day which it becomes an appealing area to invest! However the market has has almost matured with a good number of dominant players providing this service localy and internationaly, thus complementing these services with new business models that will resides upon these services is the key question which will be carfeully researched through out this paper to extract its feasabiltiy. Hosting new business models into these services might enable companies to provide extra tailored services or products to their users/customers that matches their interests.

Winning Arabian 7s Challenge Cup

2008-05-04T02:06:00.000+03:00

Photos of Jordan Rugby players holding the Arabian 7s Challenge Cup were on every player profile on facebook last week. Unfortunatly i wasnt able to join their happiness winning this trophy but i have celibrated this win from my dormitory room #2 here in Greece!!!

News has been posted about this big win in AGRFU web site; check the News here.

Great job guys enjoy the win.

New Blogger

2008-02-12T23:39:00.000+02:00

Welcome to my newly created blog, i decided to start blogging after experiencing it in our E-Business course since we are asked by our professor to create and maintain one so i would appreciate if you give it a visit its called 3 in Greece & leave us a nice comments to help us in getting a BIG nice "A" ;)
Cheers...