GO OO 3.0

After tinkering on my own personal notebook for a number of years now, I am officially switching to OpenOffice 3.0 on my workstation pc. GO OS is a open source software distribution that had made some tinkering on the ordinary OpenOffice 3.0 (GO OO only upload unto the computer the necessaries thus avoiding codebloat) which would result in a blazing performance. You may download the official OpenOffice suite by clicking on the above logo. Alternatively, you may want to try out the one that I am using now which could be downloaded here.

So far all the agreements that I had created in MS Word 2003 could be used without any hiccups. In the organisation where I work, we had to fork out a hefty sum of money to use MS Office products. Yeah, I should know better, I am in charge of vettting the software license agreement renewal, which has become somewhat of an annual ritual.

The outcome of this test may pursuade me to recommemnd to the top management to kiss goodbye to MS Office suite.

Are You Ready For HIM?

It was early in the morning at four,
When death knocked upon a bedroom door,
Who is there? The sleeping one cried.
I'm Malakul Maut, let me inside.

At once, the man began to shiver,
As one sweating in deadly fever,
He shouted to his sleeping wife,
Don't let him take away my life.

Please go away, O Angel of Death!
Leave me alone; I'm not ready yet.
My family on me depends,
Give me a chance, O please prepense!

The angel knocked again and again,
Friend! I'll take your life without a pain,
Tis your soul Allah requires,
I come not with my own desire.

Bewildered, the man began to cry,
O Angel I'm so afraid to die,
I'll give you gold and be your slave,
Just don't send me to the unlit grave.

Let me in, O Friend! The Angel said,
Open the door; get up from your bed,
If you do not allow me in,
I will walk through it, like a Jinn.

The man held a gun in his right hand,
Ready to defy the Angel's stand.
I'll point my gun, towards your head,
You dare come in; I'll shoot you dead.

By now the Angel was in the room,
Saying, O Friend! Prepare for you doom.
Foolish man, Angels never die,
Put down your gun and do not sigh.

Why are you afraid! Tell me O man,
To die according to Allah's plan?
Come smile at me, do not be grim,
Be Happy to return to Him.

O Angel! I bow my head in shame,
I had no time to take Allah's Name.
From morning till dusk, I made my wealth,
Not even caring for my health.

Allah's command I never obeyed,
Nor five times a day I ever prayed.
Ramadan came and a Ramadan went,
But no time had I to repent.

The Hajj was already FARD on me,
But I would not part with my money.
All charities I did just ignore,
Taking usury (riba') more and more.

Sometimes I sipped my favorite wine,
With flirting women I sat to dine.
O Angel! I appeal to you,
Spare my life for a year or two.

The Laws of Quran I will obey,
I'll begin SOLAT this very day.
My Fast and Hajj, I will complete,
And keep away from self-conceit.

I will refrain from usury,
And give all my wealth to charity,
Wine and wenches I will detest,
Allah's oneness I will attest.

We Angels do what Allah demands,
We cannot go against His commands.
Death is ordained for everyone,
Father, mother, daughter or son.

I'm afraid this moment is your last,
Now be reminded, of your past,
I do understand your fears,
But it is now too late for tears.

You lived in this world, two score and more,
Never did you, your people adore.
Your parents, you did not obey,
Hungry beggars, you turned away.

Your two ill-gotten, female offspring,
In nightclubs, for livelihood they sing.
Instead of making abiding Muslims,
You made your children non-Muslims.

You ignored the Mua'dhin Adhaan,
Nor did you read the Holy Quran.
Breaking promises all your life,
Backbiting friends, and causing strife.

From hoarded goods, great profits you made,
And your poor workers, you underpaid.
Horses and cards were your leisure,
Moneymaking was your pleasure.

You ate vitamins and grew more fat,
With the very sick, you never sat.
A pint of blood you never gave,
Which could a little baby you save.

O Human, you have done enough wrong,
You bought good properties for a song.
When the farmers appealed to you,
You did not have mercy, it is true.

Paradise for you? I cannot tell,
Undoubtedly you will dwell in hell.
There is no time for you to repent,
I'll take your soul for which I am sent.

The ending however, is very sad,
Eventually the man became mad
With a cry, he jumped out of bed,
And suddenly, he fell down dead.

O Reader! Take moral from here,
You never know, your end may be near
Change the way you live and make amends
For heaven, on your deeds depends.

Anugerah Pencapaian Akademik 2008 - Jamilah

Jamilah recently got 1st in class and first in the whole standard one. In the photo above is Jamilah and her class teacher Puan jamilah. For Sekolah Agama, she got 2nd place for the whole class.....

Yo Pakcik Soleh - jadi ke nak ajor Jamilah, Husna, Amin, Ismail & Siddiq maths & english masa cuti sekolah ni....

Project Markisa @ Passion fruit

Setelah sekian lama penulis tercari-cari apakah tanaman atau ubat yang ideal (semestinya rasanya sedap, tidak perlu pemprosesan yang sukar atau melecehkan) untuk masalah kanser yang dihadapu ibu penulis (setelah mencuba mencari-cari jawapannya di Indonesia, Jepun dan USA (Florida), maka kini terjawablah teka-teki tersebut. Ubatnya - jus buah markisa yang pernah cuba diseludup masuk ke Malaysia oleh pembantu rumah penulis - tapi gagal!  Kalau  yang berpotensi tinggi pun cuma buah Pokok Mahkota Dewa - buahnya perlu melalui beberapa proses kerana ianya amat beracun. Sabtu yang lalu - /11/2008, penulis akhirnya berjaya mendapatkan beberapa pokok markisa yang dua daripadanya telahpun ditanam didalam pasu. Carian di Internet mendapati juga jus buah markisa, daun serta akarnya juga bagus digunakan sebagai ubat alternatif masalah asthma atau lelah yang dihidapi oleh anak-anak penulis (termasuk penulis sendiri). Sekiranya ianya berjaya ditanam dan hudup subur dan mengeluarkan hasil, maka bolehlah dikira-kirakan untuk dikomersilkan.

Excerpts from Article 1

Passion fruit has been popular world wide for years, and the juice is often found in commercial fruit punches. Recently, however, scientists are taking a second look at these unnatractive globes, largely because of their high antioxidant content and phyto-chemicals and their role in potential healing.

The results of an exciting new study, reported in April of 2008, found that passion fruit peel helps relieve asthma. Over 80% of the subjects receiving the extract found relief from wheezing, and coughing decreased by 76%. Researchers point to the fruit's antioxidants and to its flavonoids, which inhibit the production of histamine and reduce inflammation and allergy.

Excerts from Article 2

GAINESVILLE, Fla.--- University of Florida researchers have found an extract prepared from the juice of yellow passion fruit kills cancer in cell cultures.

"We know that eating fruits and vegetables is associated with a reduced risk of cancer," said Susan Percival, professor of Food Science and Human Nutrition in the Institute of Food and Agricultural Science at UF. "That reduced risk is due to plant compounds or phytochemicals, such as carotenoids and polyphenols, both of which are found in abundance in passionfruit juice."

Percival's work was with yellow passion fruit, which is native to Ecuador and Brazil. The plum-sized fruit contains a fleshy pulp and many seeds, and is harvested mainly for its acidic juice. The juice is served fresh in South America, and it is prized for its sweet flavor, a little bit like pear and a little bit like banana. Processed passion fruit juice is one of the base flavors in mixed fruit drinks such as Snapple Sky and Hawaiian Punch. Until now, the passion fruit has been known only as a good-tasting fruit drink.

"Yellow passion fruit juice contains 13 different carotenoids and 8 different polyphenols, in a single whole food," said Steve Talcott, Assistant Professor of Food Science and Human Nutrition. "Most of the research on phytochemicals has been done on one or two compounds, rather than a whole fruit. We wanted to test the effects of the whole passionfruit on cancer cells."