Friday 4 May 2012

Web 2.0 practical project


Web 2.0 practical project

One of the courses that I’m currently studying is Management Information System (MIS).  The first project that we did in this subject was to choose one tool from Web 2.0 and train our classmates about this tool usage.  Another project is Web 2.0 practical in which we have demonstrated how we use these tools using Google sites. Also, we have to create our own blog; this blog that you are viewing is actually a part of this project.  In this post I’m demonstrating my reflection on these tools. I organized them from my most favourite tool to my least favourite.


1. Google Docs:
From the moment that I viewed the list of Web 2.0 tools that we can use to choose a tool for our training, Google Docs caught my attention only from reading the description about it. I chose it and trained my classmates on how to use it. I liked it the most because of it major usefulness to me as a student.  I have always been the group leader in group projects, so my group members send their work to me to approve it, and then I send it to the member responsible for organizing our work. This is a long process. Google Docs allow the users to create documents, presentations, spreadsheets and more and share it with other people. Now as a group we can create a document for example and work on a report together without being physically together. We can comment on each other work, edit the work and chat together. Also, we can see a history of our work and restore older versions. It allows us to work together more effectively and efficiently. When I will be an employee I’m going to introduce it to the company that I will work for, if they are not using it.


2. Google Chrome:
I really liked Google Chrome and now it’s my default browser instead of Internet Explorer. It’s faster and more organized . Also, it has more features such as Chrome web store, which allow you to download applications in your Chrome such as games, themes, Business tools, Entertainment tools and much more.

    3.Google search:
I can’t live without Google search. I use it for college and in my personal life. I love to search for any subject that I want to know more about.  Now I can use it more efficiently with the techniques that I learned to use such as searching in a certain domain or a file type.

    4. Twitter:
I never imagined that I’m going to like to use a social website. I like it because it’s simple as the main thing is the tweets which are messages with maximum 140 Character. I like it as I can follow tweets of not only my friends and family, I can follow people or groups that are useful to my life. For example, I’m following Parenting.com which sends tweet including links to parenting and pregnancy articles. This is very useful to me as I’m pregnant and will be a new mom soon. Also, I’m following UAE Barq which sends tweet about UAE news and it’s a trusted source.

5. Google Picasa :
I like it because I can organize and edit my pictures in an easy and simple way. You don’t have to be a professional to use it. I like creating photo collages the most in Google Picasa.

6. Social bookmarking: (delicious)
I like using delicious as it help me to store links in stacks and share it with others. This is useful when writing a research report as a group because it allows us to share useful links together.  Although you can search for different topics and see stacks of people all around the word, I don’t think that I’m going to use after college.

7.  Blog:
I really enjoyed creating this blog. Even though it’s a part of a project, it’s very enjoyable in contrast to other project.  It’s a good way to share what you want with others such as events in your life and your interests.  However, it requires time and commitment. For that reason I’m not sure that I’m going to continue to post in my blog after this project especially that I will be busy being a new mom. I might create a new blog in the future.

    8. Google Calendar:
Although I liked Google Calendar a lot as it have many nice features, I don’t think that I’m going to use it very often. The reason for that is that I don’t depend on Calendars very much in my life.  After college I will stay at home for a while until my baby become approximately 6 months and then I will start searching for a job. That’s why I don’t think that I’m going to need Google Calendar very much. I will use it mainly for hospital appointments.

    9. Gmail:
As same as Google Calendar, I think it’s very organized and contains many features, but I don’t deal with e-mails very much. However, I definitely switched from hotmail to Gmail and I put my Gmail in my CV.


    10. Google earth:
Google earth is a very useful tool and contains many amazing features. I like searching for places and view pictures and informations about these places. However, maps and directions are some of my week points.  It’s very hard for me to understand and I don’t like them, so sometimes I got dizzy when I use it. 

11. Google sites:
Google sites allow you to create a site in a very simple way. I don’t think that I’m going to use it after college.

12. Google Reader and Facebook:
These two tools that I didn’t like at all and I didn’t use them after the training.

Overall, this was a very useful project as it introduced us to many tools that are beneficial to our personal or professional life. Even  if I didn't use or like all of them, it might be useful in the future. It's one of my best projects in college and I enjoyed it a lot.

Funny children


Today I was bored, so I was watching some videos in YouTube.

I like to see videos about children and I liked these two videos:










Saturday 28 April 2012

999 Dubai: Craziest, funniest and most heart-warming calls received - Emirates 24/7

999 Dubai: Craziest, funniest and most heart-warming calls received - Emirates 24/7:

'via Blog this'

OMG, my due date is coming

Each day I'm getting closer and closer to my due date.

I have mixed feeling

I'm excited. I'm going to see the baby growing inside me for 9 months.



I'm trying to imagine how she looks like, but I can't. Well she be like me or like her father or both of us?? However, the most important thing that she will be healthy enshallah


I can't wait to hold her in my hand


On the other hand, My due date is 23-5-2012 while last day at college is 14-6-2012, so I'm very nervous and trying not to panic.

But how not to panic when I have many projects to finish. In top of that, at the time of the final exam, I will enshasllah have a new born baby. How I'm going to study !!!

Wait there is more, now I have pregnancy rash !!!!!

It's on my tummy, legs and arm and it's itching like crazy and it look awful. The only solution for it is giving birth :(

 All what I do is being patient and have trust in God and pray that every thing will be OK.


Tuesday 17 April 2012

The Benefits of Jigsaws for Adults/ another hobby of mine



The Benefits of Jigsaws for Adults




People of all ages enjoy doing jigsaw puzzles. Babies will often be given a basic wooden jigsaw as an early toy and many people come back to puzzling in later life as a hobby. This isn't just about having fun. Doing a jigsaw comes with a range of mental and physical benefits and they can also make great gifts with a bit of thought.


Although many adults get out of the habit of doing jigsaws as they grow older this remains a popular hobby for a lot of people. It is also a common pastime for people who have recently retired and who are looking for something fun to do now that they have more time on their hands. Many also believe that there are some real benefits to doing jigsaws, especially as people get older. These include:

  • Doing jigsaw puzzles can keep the mind active. Relaxing and fun as puzzles may be they will also involve the use of specific areas of the brain and a variety of mental skills. Many people find that one of the bonuses of puzzling is that it helps keep their minds active and alert
  • Jigsaws can also be used positively from a physical perspective as people get older. Many find, for example, that doing a jigsaw regularly, even for just a few minutes a day, can be a useful way of promoting manual dexterity.

Doing jigsaw puzzles is a mutual hobby between my husband and I. We enjoy doing  jigsaw puzzles of 1000 pieces.

Here are pictures of puzzles that we did together:














 We are currently working on this one, it seems very hard as it consist mainly of yellow pieces and there are few other colours .




Wednesday 28 March 2012

The Pyramid cake



The pyramid Cake:


One day I was board and I was craving home-made sweet. I opened one of the cooking book and found this interesting recipe and I tried it. I made it for a Thursday night as it is a family gathering night. 

Biscuit ingredients:

  •    1 ¼ Butter biscuit (45 pieces)

White sauce ingredients:

  •  1 egg
  •  ¼ cup sugar
  • 2 sack dream wip
  • 1 packet butter
  • 2 packet creamy cheese Philadelphia ( weigh for each can is 200 grams
  • 2 pieces kiri cheese

Chocolate sauce:

  •  8 Galaxy chocolate or any kind of chocolate (each weigh 47 grams
  • ½ cup milk.

Garnishing ingredients:
  • Chocolate flavoured syrup.





Preparation:

For making the white sauce:


  • Beat the eggs + sugar in an electric mixer.
  • Put the butter on the mixture, and then put the remaining ingredients of the white sauce.
  • Get a rectangular tray and cover it with foil. Leave enough space for covering the cake.









The first layer:


  • Put 3 pieces of biscuits to form the width of the rectangle and 5 pieces of biscuits to form the length of the rectangle. (Total 15 pieces)
  • Wipe the white sauce over the biscuits and make sure that all biscuits are covered.







The second layer:


  • Put another 15 biscuits over the first layer and then cover it with the white sauce.





The third layer and the pyramid:


  • Put another 15 biscuits over the 2 layers and then cover it with the white sauce.
  •  Raise the foil of the first line of biscuits with the third line of biscuits until they meet and the middle line will be the base between them
  •  Then open the foil and you will be able to see the shape of the pyramid 
  • Then carefully wipe the rest of the white sauce on all sides of the pyramid.
  • Then  put it in the freezer until it hold together, meanwhile prepare the chocolate sauce.


For making the chocolate sauce:


  • In a warm water bath, melt the chocolate in the milk until it becomes a liquid.
  •  Remove it from the fire and leave it to cool slightly
  • Cover all side of the pyramid with the chocolate sauce and put it in the freezer for quarter or half an hour until it freezes. Don’t cover it with the foil
  • After that put it in the fridge for 2 hours.










Serving:


  • Elevate the pyramid carefully in a serving plate and garnish it with the chocolate syrup.






Note:
It’s preferable to make the pyramid one day before serving. ( do the chocolate sauce on the day of serving)

My experience:


  • I did the pyramid one day before serving, it made it easier for me to cover it with the chocolate sauce and I didn't worry about breaking the pyramid when elevating it to the serving plate.
  • It’s a unique sweet and taste delicious. My family loved it.

Sunday 18 March 2012

My pregnancy

13-9-2011

Another special day in my life.


After experiencing several signs of pregnancy, I finally did a pregnancy test at home.

I got up in the morning, nervous, did the test, and saw the result 

It was POSITIVE.




I couldn't believe myself and I was so nervous. My heart was nearly going to jump out of my chest. I got in my car to go to college but suddenly I changed my way and went to the clinic to make sure that I'm pregnant. It was the longest 20 minutes to wait for the clinic result. After confirming that I'm pregnant, I was so happy and I didn't want to go to the college. I went to mothercare and bought some baby stuff to surprise my husband. He was shocked and speechless . What a day !!




I feel heavy, don't sleep well , my back hurts and my feet are suffering form swelling. It hurt so much and it's annoying. however, when my baby moves and kicks I forget all the pain. It's an amazing feeling which I can't describe. I cant wait to hold my baby girl (Fatma)


Here is a video that shows  fetal development 






My wedding

24th of June 2011


A very special day, my wedding day. The day that changed my life, in this day I officially became a wife.
I'm not responsible for myself only, from that day I had a husband to take care of, to love, to respect and to share my life with.

It's one of the happiest days in my entire life.

Here are pictures of my stage and wedding cake.











My Favourite hobby

My Favourite hobby is reading.


I started reading when I was very young thanks to my parents, especially my father. My father always encourages my sisters and I to read by buying books for us or give us rewards for reading a certain number of books.




I like to read different types of novels, but I adore reading mystery novels.


My favourite mystery author is Agatha Christie. I started to read Agatha's novels when I was 12 years old when my father gave me one of her book. Now I have a goal to read all of her books.




She is known as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in English + another billion in 100 foreign languages. She is the most widely published author of all time and in any language, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare.


My favourite Agatha's Character is Poirot, who is a Belgian short, old, retired detective. He have round shaped head with green eyes. He is very organized and neat and can't stand disorder. He  uses what he calls grey cells of mind to solve complicated crimes.

My Favourite Agatha's book is The ABC Murders


  


Ascher in Andover, Barnard in Bexhill, Clarke in Churston all are dead, each with an ABC Railway Guide found beside the body. A serial killer is on the loose, one who is determined to play games with the great Hercule Poirot. But can the Belgian detective come to grips with the mind of a psychopath? With the help of Hastings and Japp, Poirot must travel the length and breadth of England. Is he always destined to be too late?



I like this book the most because it was very clever and I was shocked when I found who the murderer is.