Nur Ahmad Furlong

Blog

  • I’ve fixed my blog!

    Ok, so I started this blog originally as a means to express myself with regard to personal topics of interest and after experimenting for a while and doing some research about blogging, developing blogs and the like I have decided to use wordpress technology to power my entire site. Upgrading was a bit of a pain, and I made a few mistakes unknowingly which I now know had something to do with my permalinks configuration.

    Enough techno gobbeldy-gook, my intention is to create a site where I ill display my work, discuss topical issues, provide some helpful content and generally become much more interactive with the way I interact with all of you out there, and wordpress has provided an almost perfect platform with which do do exactly that.

  • Aerosol Arabic – Islam through Graffiti

    I met Mohammed Ali (the graffiti artist not the boxer) like many others via the internet on a search for Islamic Art. I had never heard of someone doing the type of art he does within the bounds of Islam and soon started a dialogue with him about what he does and what inspired him to get into this type of art. For hundreds of years the only arts commonly associated with Islam were the traditional forms of calligraphy, islamic geometric patterns and other arabesque styled arts which we see in many mosques, and when travelling to Islamic countries. Growing up on Birmingham in England in the 80’s and 90’s with the art-form of graffiti having an impact on brother Mohammed’s view of the world and inspiring him creatively is what brought together these two seemingly irreconcilable entities of Islam & Graffiti.

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  • Multi-touch screen – super coolness

    I just looked at what must rank as one of the coolest technological developments I have seen in a long time. Being a design I could not contain myself while watching this video which illustrates some of the capabilities for “the next step” in screen interactions. From visual to functional to just plain cool. Check it out for yourself. Hopefully soon we will be saying goodbuy to mouse and keyboard and getting our hands dirty by interacting with our screens in a similar way. This is what the inventor himself had to say in March 2006.

    Jeff Han at ETech, 7 Mar 2006

    Consulting research scientist at NYU’s department of Computer Science. This stuff is literally just coming out of the lab right now. You’re amongst the first to see it out of the lab. I think this is going to change the way we interact with computers.

    I want one of these right now! Any sponsors out there :)?

  • Smashing Magazine fast becoming my favourite

    One of the daily habits of any creative worker is research and trend tracking. Seeing what others are doing, what trends are currently being followed, what the latest developments are and new & interesting ways of doing things is what keeps us thinking further and working toward developing our own innovative solutions. A few months ago I found Smashing Magazine.

    Smashing Magazine

    It’s one of my daily sources of inspiration and education in the field of web design and development. The beauty of smashing magazine is that they find great content out there and bring it to us in a well collected and neatly packaged manner. I’ve noticed they seem to be taking it a step further each time they post and their fame within the web community is steadily increasing.

    Their most recent edition proved once again to be informative with it’s broad coverage of opinions and thoughts from some of the most well-known and active web people out there. 5 Questions, 35 Designers is a post I know I will have to refer back to as it’s filled with insights and useful reference. In their own words –

    “35 designers. 5 questions. 5 precise answers. Result: 175 professional suggestions, tips and ideas from some of the best web-developers all around the world. In March we�ve selected over 35 prominent designers and design companies, contacted them and asked to answer five design-related questions, sharing their knowledge and experience with fellows developers. Here on Smashing Magazine.”

  • A lesson in appreciation – Water is better than gold

    Life in Cairo has many twists and turns to it and no two days are quite the same. Since yesterday we have had no water in our building. In fact a few square kilometers of Cairo has no water and I have no idea why. Cairo being the place that it is word travels fast from person to person and rumours exist but we still have no word on when the water will be back. On my way to work I found a huge water fountain spewing out massive amounts of water a few hundred meters away from our house. Go figure!

    I have found myself automatically switching on taps in the bathroom and the kitchen just because I’m so used to doing so. The whole episode reminded me of a short documentary I watched recently about the scacity of water in some places and the abundance in other places. There was a chinese man living in a remote rural area who was interviewed about his daily relationship with water. He said that he had never had a shower in his entire life and that he is so jealous of people who take daily showers. Being in need of my daily shower I am starting to have a slight glimpse of the blessing which I so regularly take for granted. I used to be more water conscious, especially around the time when we experienced some water restrictions back home in South Africa, but it quickly fades when the restrictions are lifted.

    Currently I am using bottled water to wash my hands and make simple ablutions but am wondering what the less fortunate and unseen individuals possibly right under my nose are doing. It’s amazing how situations like these humble one.

    Don’t take your water for granted wether or not it flows in abundance because you never know when it’ll run out!

  • One Laptop for every child

    One of the very promising projects out there aimed at growing a brighter future for children worldwide is the “One Laptop” project.

    One Laptop Per Child


    �It’s an education project, not a laptop project.�

    � Nicholas Negroponte

    Our goal: To provide children around the world with new opportunities to explore, experiment and express themselves.
    The project’s origins go back more than four decades to the early days of computing, when most machines were still the size of small dinosaurs, and almost no one dreamed they would ever be suitable for children. But pioneering thinkers like Seymour Papert disagreed sharply, and over time led the long march from radical theory to reality proving the immense power of the personal computer as a learning tool for children.

    The project is open to involvement on all levels if you are someone who has skills or knowledge which can be of benefit. They have comprehensive wiki which keeps us up-to-date on developments as they take place. As someone who is very interested in e-learning and using new technologies to benefit those who are in need, this project ranks up there in the top ten for me. I hope to be working on projects of similar nature in not too distant future. I’ve signed up to volunteer my services with “The One Laptop” project.

    Pay them a visit and find out more, or, if you’re up to the task offer some assistance toward brightening the future of the next generation.