Snow - Coming or Going?

Last Sunday was a very warm day giving us the feeling that spring is here and the last remaining patches of snow were on their way to disappearing. So we decided to go 2000m up the mountains to Laqlouq ski resort. Even at that altitude the temperature was 20°, the snow was visibly melting, however, it was so thick that we even managed to build a snow man. Here’s the evidence:

On the way up, at around 800m

Evidence of the snow melting, at around 1500m

Linda demonstrating that there's plenty of snow left at 2000m

Although it was warm, the snow remains pretty cold

Peter and Jason had a great time

The Snowman that looks like a ghost!

And then, three days later the temperatures drop dramatically and this happens:

Storm clouds gather

A dusting of snow

The following day, a full blown snow storm hits us:

The snow is back at 1200m and above.

The View From Our Balcony Last Night

It’s been a while since I last wrote in this blog. I will explain in due course, but for now I wanted to share some pictures with you that I took last night of the lunar eclipse.

The eclipse was scheduled to begin at 20:18 GMT. In Lebanon, and Brummana in particular, it started at around 11:30 pm Lebanon time. The moon was pretty high up in the sky and we were lucky to have a good view of it, although a few minutes after the total eclipse the moon disappeared over the roof of the building, this was around 01:00 am.

You will notice that some of the pictures are clearer than others. Because of the lighting level, which was, as you would suspect, low, I used a mixture of camera settings. Reverting to the manual I learned a few things I didn't know about my camera. It's sad to know that I am, even now, only using about 50% of the capabilities of the camera.

I positioned the camera outside on a small tripod, and used the maximum zoom the camera can achieve (x16). With the camera setting on aperture priority "Av" with manual aperture control I got the best results at the start of the eclipse when moonlight level was still high.

With the setting on "Auto" and with flash off I achieved the best results at the total eclipse stage featuring the spectacular reddish light effect covering the moon. From reading about total lunar eclipses apparently the redish effect is the result of sun rays filtering through the Earth's atmosphere reaching the moon.

Enjoy!

Christmas Eve.

It’s the festive season. Christmas Eve started in the traditional manner with carol singing at Ibrahim and Randa’s place.

Ibrahim and Sarmad in fine voice!

Then on to Linda’s Mom’s for Christmas dinner. The food was great, fondue night as usual. The meat and the chocolate fondues were delicious, however, the cheese fondue was a flop! Linda and I blamed it on the mixture of cheeses that was recommended by our delicatessen.

Linda jumping for joy...

...as Sarmad holds his head in embarrassment!

Kina and Paul place Jesus in the manger at midnight.

Stephie and mom Nancy

Jason, Stephie and Peter get ready to open their presents.

Everyone managed to open lots of presents, specially the young ones.

No. 1 opened!

Peter overjoyed with this lot!

The older ones turn now

Paul capturing the moment

Lori and Simon finding out what they each got!

Mike receiving one of his presents

Linda's happy with what she's got!

Kina with her unexpected surprise - The calligraphy set.

The Festive Season!

Isn’t it typical? For one and a half months we don’t see a drop of rain, and then … bang; a snowstorm with snow falling at 500m and above!

The first snow this winter

When the clouds lift...

...The magnificent snow-capped mountains appear

That was in the morning of the 27th. In the evening we had a BHS old scholars get-together. Joe Assad and I have been exchanging emails for nearly a year though we’d never met. He was 4 years above me at school, so I didn’t know him from then either. Being the Lebanese Consul to the Philippines he is based in Manila, but was over in Lebanon for a brief visit, and it was a chance to finally meet.

Amer and Mirna had come over from Abu Dhabi for the holidays. Ibrahim was over from Kuwait for the holidays, and Rima brought along Gaby Habib who also was over from Abu Dhabi for a couple of days. Ramez Sawabini was also over from Saudi/Bahrain, so the whole list was as follows:

Joe Assad
Ramez Sawabini
Gaby Habib
Amer and Mirna Kurdi
Ibrahim and Randa Qamar
Christine Sabieh
Rima Maatouk
Hoda Wallace
Mona Shour
Linda and I

Naji Raad and his daughter as well as Faris Araktingi and his girlfriend Michelle were supposed to join us at some stage but unfortunately could not make it.

The gang... L to R: Gaby, Rima, Amer, Mona (hidden), Christine, Randa, Ibrahim, Ramez, Hoda, Linda, Sarmad & Joe

Hoda and Ramez

Linda and Sarmad

Sarmad and Joe

L to R: Ibrahim, Rima, Linda, Ramez, Joe, Gaby (hidden), Amer, Mirna, Christine & Randa.

R to L: Randa, Christine, Mirna, Amer, Rima (partially hidden), and Gaby

Amer, Mirna and Mona

L to R: Standing: Ibrahim, Amer, Gaby, Sarmad, Ramez, Christine, Joe

Sitting: Hoda, Randa, Mirna, Mona, Linda, Rima

We had a wonderful time at Kasr Fakhrildinne restaurant in Brummana, followed by a night cap at Ibrahim and Randa’s house.

Night cap at Ibrahim and Randa's

Graceful Exit!

AN OPEN LETTER FROM GOOGLE ANSWERS RESEARCHERS

When Google Answers debuted in the spring of 2002, we, the undersigned, enjoyed the unique opportunities of participating as Google Answers Researchers.

At this time, we wish to publicly express our gratitude to Google, and especially to Andrew Finks and Lexi Baugher, the visionary team behind Larry Page’s rough idea for Google Answers. Finks and Baugher created and championed not only a premium Q&A feature for Google, they unwittingly set into motion the creation of a premium Internet community.

We wish to also publicly thank our many loyal clients without whom Google Answers would not have been successful. For nearly five years, we delighted in tackling your informational challenges, many times learning from the knowledge you requested.

While we are saddened by Google’s decision to retire the Google Answers feature, we are proud to have served such an impressive company, software team, and client base, in our capacities as information specialists.

“Learning is not attained by chance,” wrote Abigail Adams, “it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.”

We agree.

Knowledge_Seeker-ga: Kimberly Gerson, Ontario, Canada

Tlspiegel-ga: Toby Lee, Phoenix AZ, US

Guillermo-ga: Guillermo Arnaudo, Patagonia, Argentina

Journalist-ga: Emily Moore, Knoxville TN, US

Rainbow-ga: Linda Al-Wadi, Lebanon

Cynthia-ga: Cynthia Lystad, Seattle WA, US

Till-ga: Tillmann Stoffel-Kueppers, Juelich, Germany

Missy-ga: Maggie Brazeau, Toledo OH, US

Hedgie-ga: Petr F., Czech Republic, EU

Crabcakes-ga: Barbara (Susie) Cannon, Glendale AZ, US

Politicalguru-ga: Tamar PG

Umiat-ga: June Dufford, Utah, US

Eiffel-ga: Roger Browne, England, UK

Mother911-ga: Ralph Peragine, Long Island NY, US

Scriptor-ga: Oliver Henkel, Germany

Pafalafa-ga: David Sarokin, Washington DC, US

Answerfinder-ga: Phil George, UK

Clouseau-ga: Bob Ulius, Palo Alto CA, US

Hummer-ga: Patricia B., Québec, Canada

Nenna-ga: Jennifer Pringle, Omaha NE, US

Angy-ga: Angela Cockburn, Sydney NSW, AU

Czh-ga: Clara Horvath, California, US

Aceresearcher-ga: Jo, US and New Zealand

Mathtalk-ga: Chip Eastham, Knoxville TN, US

Mvguy-ga: Montana, US

Byrd-ga: Chris Rogers, Austin TX, US

Sublime1-ga: John Everest, Phoenix AZ, US

Tutuzdad-ga: Mike Simmons, Arkansas, US

Keystroke-ga: Chapel Hill, North Carolina, US

Larre-ga: L. Rowan

Bobbie7-ga: Bobbie

Boquinha-ga

Thx1138-ga

Easterangel-ga

Another famous win!

Newcastle score first!

Into Half Time losing

Walla!!!

With 12 1st team players out injured, Newcastle win by the skin of their teeth!

Up and Running

Now that Linda has gotten over the end of Google Answers, she is looking towards the future. With a view of starting her own research venture, she’s joined some of the other GA researchers in a blog called Web Owls. She’s also working on creating her own blog which will be called Rainbow Searches. Over the next few days she’ll be working on establishing some of the necessary tools she will require for that project. She’s grateful to Debi for helping her out with some of the web-based features. It also seems that my blogging experience has come in handy!

The following is her newly created profile:

Rainbow-GA - Moving on

“I was a Researcher with Google Answers from its inception in May 2002 until the service was discontinued by Google in December 2006. My researcher name is rainbow-ga, I've answered approximately 1300 questions. My ratings, customer comments and samples of my work are available for viewing here.

I have worked on a wide variety of topics, ranging from find that movie/book/song to compiling lists of companies operating in Poland that are at least 51% owned by foreign investors.

An American based in the Middle East, I have a full command of both English and Arabic, and modest knowledge of French.

I am readily available for private research projects. If you would like research to be carried out, please contact me at rainbowsearches@gmail.com or leave a message here and I will get back to you.”

So watch this space. I'll keep you updated on her news.

Google Answers Disgoogled!

Cyber world is saddened to hear the news of the demise of Google Answers. From end of November no more new questions were posted, and researchers have until the end of December to answer whatever questions that are left unanswered or unexpired.

As many of you will know, Google Answers is a professional service that Google provided where people paid to have questions on any subject answered by professional researchers. There are approximately 500 Google researchers around the world. Linda is one of them, and the only one in the Middle East.

The announcement by Google to suspend this service has generated a lot of debate on the internet. You’ve only got to look at a couple of sites like Google's Blog and Digg to see how various people have reacted to the news. A petition has been initiated to be signed and sent to Google to keep this service, which is highly valued and respected, alive.

Not taking it lying down!

Some people have interpreted this action by Google to be a surrender to Yahoo, MSN or Amazon, who provide an answer service for free. Others are not interested in getting free answers. They cite professionalism at Google Answers where there are long-standing, highly experienced, answerers whom they could trust.

Many people asked questions that were important to their lives and livelihoods. People placed their confidence in a Google Researcher when asking, for example, what are the chances of a certain type of cancer recurring after 5 years of remission, or asking for academic research purposes how many companies operating in Poland that were at least 51% owned by non-Polish investors.

On the rare occasion when a researcher gave an incorrect answer, Google provided a guarantee that people got their money refunded. The guarantee backed up by Google’s name and reputation meant something.

However, this closure has raised a number of concerns. People’s confidence in Google is now shaken. The action Google took to suddenly, and without warning, close down a service has set a worrying precedent. Will Google suddenly and without warning close down Blogger or Picasa or Gmail?

Google is a multi-billion Company, how much did it really cost it to keep the Google Answers service operational. How much does it take to keep it running? How much would it have taken to promote it better? Alternatively, why didn’t Google offer this service up for sale instead of shutting it down?

This service was maintained by a small number of Editors, understood to be 4 or 5 personnel. It was almost a self-sustaining operation kept going by a group of pretty smart individuals, some of whom were experts in fields of law, medicine and other professions. Some of those researchers were incapacitated; others relied on Google Answers as their only source of income. Many, like Linda, had a lot of fun working on Google Answers. It was an addictive hobby that she loved. It was perfect for her: it was online, she worked from home whenever she wanted, and was able to make time for other things in her life.

A Google Answers Researchers Tools

Google Answers Researchers formed close friendships over the years although most of them have never met each other. For sure most of them will eventually find something else to do on the ‘net, but for now it’s sad to see this service disappear.