Observer

What would you expect from an online registration form? Wouldn’t you assume that by entering the information, the process should start and you receive a response in the mail? It seems that the meaning of “online registration” is a bit different in Switzerland! I have had two experiences for which the online registration seemed not to be even the beginning of the whole process! My first experience was a request for a credit card and the second one was for a car rental service.

In both cases, when I entered a very detailed information in the form that was available on the internet, I received a letter that requested for additional information to start the process! I believe that it would have been easier if they had let me know from the beginning that they still depend on transferring the information via mail! At least, that would have saved me several minutes of my time.

Finally, after several weeks since Avatar came out to the movie theaters, I went and saw it tonight in IMAX 3D. If I want to summarize my experience about the movie which just passed the record of Titanic in selling tickets (money-wise not number of people who saw each), I would say:

1) Great movie for those who love action Sci-fi movies.

2) Good use of technology and computer animations.

3) Good one to see in 3D!

My only complains would be about:

1) If you wear glasses, the weight of the 3D glasses will add to them, and for a 3-hour movie can become a bit uncomfortable.

2) The movie could have been a lit shorter.

3) Make sure you go to a movie theater that has enough leg space for such a long movie!

If you have not watched it yet, don’t miss this one.

Would I watch it “again” in the theater? No.

During Kouchner’s visit to Lebanon, he talked about Clotilde Reiss, the French citizen who is arrested in Iran with espionage accusation. Kouchner said: “Do you think my country would be so naive and shorthanded as to send a 23-year-old woman to spy in Iran? That’s stupid, it’s not possible.”

Well, Monsieur Kouchner, although we all know the reason behind the detention of the poor French student is Iran’s reaction to Sarkozy’s attack on Iran during the past few weeks, and that the crazy mindless regime in Iran is blackmailing the international community as it feels that the world needs to finally sit at the table and negotiate with them for their nuclear program, it’s NAIVE to put Clotilde’s life in danger by saying stupid comments like that.

First: you are admitting that you have spies in Iran. That gives the best excuse to those who arrested Clotilde.

Second: No country picks its intelligence service agents based on gender and age! Of course, you should send people who don’t look like spies! Are you confirming that because she doesn’t look like a spy, she is not a spy? This is what the regime in Iran is saying!

Maybe you can review Roxana Saberi’s case and learn from Americans. Bonne chance!

In reply to Christiane Amanpour’s question from Ahmadinezhad regarding the safety of Mir Hossein Moussavi, Ahmadinezhad compared the protesters to soccer match fans that “may become excited and there may be confrontation between the people and the police force. People who violate traffic regulations will be fined by the police no matter who he is. These are not problems.”

Well, he gave a good example although he missed one point: This election was like a soccer match that Ahmadinezhad’s team played 15 instead of 11 against the opponent team who just had 5 players as they received red cards from the referee who was supporting Ahmadinezhad’s team! Then, a fan who sees that this winner is going to represent his country in the world cup SHOULD get angry!

Yes, fans will not tolerate such an unfair match!

In my last post, I talked about the documentary that BBC has produced about Iran. Today, I found another one which is also quite interesting, even more than the one from BBC. This new one is produced by Arte TV (in French language) and is done by a French reporter who has traveled to Iran in January 2009 to film the daily life in Iran.

Her interaction with people in the street and the reactions make the documentary interesting and worth-to-watch!

Among different videos that I have found on the internet about Iran, the series that Sadegh Saba from BBC Persian has produced, seems to be a very good source for those who would like to know the country through traveling to its different places. As I am from Shiraz, the city located in the southern part of the country, I enjoyed the parts that where filmed there: interviews with locals, showing the night life, famous and toristic places, etc.

Sadegh Saba is from Rasht, a city in Northern part of Iran, so I guess that’s the reason he starts his series from there. Enjoy watching the videos if you really want to see the coutry from a different angel, not like what you see on CNN or FOX News!

Saturday night was the earth hour and people around the world turned off their lights for an hour as a part of global campaign to show their concern about global warming. However, there are yet much simpler ways that we can help the earth to be a greener place.  A report recently published by Statistics Canada shows that between 1983 and 2003, paper consumption in office environments doubled and reached 6 million tonnes per year. A major cause of paper waste is shown to be unsolicited mail, flyers, and unnecessary printing of documents by business and personal printers.

Individuals can play a key role by reducing paper consumption at home or in the work place. Most people ignore the fact that nowadays, almost every printer can print on both sides of a sheet of paper, a simple feature that can make a significant difference in both the short and long term. Moreover, few people may be aware that Canada Post has an option that allows citizens to stop receiving unsolicited mail or flyers by leaving a note to this effect on their mailbox. Various campaigns have been created to this end aiming to raise Canadian’s awareness of this option and to encourage them to start putting a “no junk mail” sticker on their mailboxes.

If you have an interest in middle east and you would like to know a bit more about the country which because of its nuclear activities, is the topic of lot of political negotiations these days, then you should not miss the documentary that BBC has produced about Iran.

The program is divided into three parts: “The man who changed the world“, “The Pariah State“, and “The Nuclear Confrontation.”

Thanks to one of YouTube’s users, you can watch all the videos if you are not living in UK.

It seems that people living in this part of the world will not see the spring very soon! In other words, we should be expecting more snowfalls in March before we get the warmer weather. One thing which is interesting in the environment Canada’s report is the part where they mention that this winter is going to be one of the longest ever! Excuse me, but can someone explain to me what was last year’s winter then? We had a total of 360 cm of snowfall and cold weather till April!

Seems the only thing which will not be in a recession is the winter! Well, so lets enjoy it. At least, they are saying that May and June are going to be warmer than normal. Isn’t that cool?!

In a rainy day, one fun thing I have, is to watch people to see how they hold their umbrellas above their heads! Except for those people who have BIG umbrellas which can cover two or three persons, what I observe most of the times are people with dry cloths in front and WET at the back! The reason is probably that most of us just care about things we can see with our eyes. Therefore, we hold the umbrella too much in front to avoid getting wet but we forget that we need to protect the back side as well!

Next time you walk in the street in a rainy day, look around to see for how many out there, having or not having an umbrella doesn’t make a difference.

P.S. New York Times had an article on this issue long time ago. Unfortunately the article is not available anymore.