What happened yesterday in Madrid was terrible, and I feel the same I felt when there were terrorist attacks in Casablanca, New York and Washington, Istambul, ...etc. While the sorrow is the same, I found it ridiculous when the media started discussing who did it, and commented on the possibility of it being an "Al Qaeda" attack as being a "retalliation" for the war in Iraq... Some even went to discuss whether Spain had ennemis in the Arabic or Islamic world...

   I don't care if it was ben laden and his psychopaths that did it, or if it is the criminals of ETA ... Those guys have killed innocent civilians, and that is not what an "ennemi" does. It is, however, exactely what criminals and psychopaths do... I don't care what nationality were the people that were killed or hurt, I only need to know they are innocent civilians taking the subway to work, walking in the streets. I feel the same when israelis are hurt while on a bus or in a coffe shop, when palestians die at home because someone who is targeted by the israeli army lives next door or was driving on the street near by, when Turkish people are hurt while walking by a bank, Australians while sunbathing in a beach resort, Americans while at work, Moroccans while they are entering a Hotel, ...etc.

    This doesn't mean I agree with what politicians and militaries around the world are doing. I believe that zionism is bad (the same way any movement that bases itself on ethnicity or religion is bad), that the actual American government is totally wrong in what it is doing around the world (it is not democratic by any criteria to decide what the whole world should do and be elected by a single part of the world. That divides the people of the world and highers hatred between nations). I believe that the British, the Spanish and Italian governments were wrong in their support of Bush for the war in Iraq, and that at the same time Saddam Hussein needed to be ousted, but the way it was done was wrong (Saddam should either have ousted by his people, or by the whole world). But I fail to see any realtion between whatever is done wrong by those politicians and the terrorists acts. I believe that humans are, in their majority, good people. I also believe that that is true of the majority of any single group of people, whether we look at geaographies, religions, ethinicity or whatever other criterium. The small groups of mentally insane people (whether they are politicians, activists or criminals) should very simply be fought by peaceful means, and the goodness of the majorities will always win in the end.

    Those who try to "put these acts into context" have better start thinking what all this means... Terror is terror, no matter what motivates it, and nice people don't kill innocent ones... No religion tolerates this, and no land wants it... We should all fight it, starting by not being silent, and by not tolerating anybody advocating any form of violence, be it for political, "patriotic", or religious excuses...

3/12/2004 6:36:44 PM UTC    Comments [17] 

The greatest yet... The North Africa Developer conference this year features the future Microsoft technologies : Longhorn, Whidbey and Yukon, alongside the deep inside .Net development sessions covering most areas of interest for the developer, the software architect and the solutions decision maker... In this second edition of the NDC, we expect 1500 attendees at the 3 keynotes and 45 breakout sessions. Among the speakers, a strong Regional Directors presence including :

• Clemens Vasters
• Scott Hanselman
• Stephen Forte
• Yann Faure
• Andrew Brust
• Sylvain Duford
• Ingo Rammer
• Eric Groise
• Goksin Bakir
• Malek Kemmou

3/12/2004 9:35:13 AM UTC    Comments [1] 

    When my friend and rock star speaker John Alexander told me that there was a conference on .Net in Kansas City in june, I didn't take a second before I wanted to be there ... So I return to the midwest as a conference speaker, after I left it when I was still a student 13 years ago.

   As some may know, I have spent a few years in Wichita, Kansas during my university years, and driving the 3 hours I needed to get to KC was a weekend habit (Actualy, I used to drive to Lawrence, KS to visit some friends at Kansas University on saturdays, and usually party out there, before heading to KC in the morning to spend my day over at Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun). But since I left Wichita in 1991, I have never been to any part of the Great Plains (except for about a week in Chicago in the 1996 - or was it 97 ?) ...

   Last week, one of my greatest friends (I call her my sister) that I have lost contact with for the last 12 years found me through google ... Off course lots of things happen in such a long time, and I am very happy to be able to see her.

    So, somehow, the midwest is calling ...

3/9/2004 8:54:50 PM UTC    Comments [13] 

   I am not a humble person, and I know I have an inflated ego (well, I try to take the hype out, but who could really do it constantly), and I have been showing a lot of pride about knowing my own country better than most, and knowing large parts of the world as well ...

    The Earthquake has awakened me to a sad reality... Sure I know lots of people from that area, probably, I know more about it than most, but I just have never been there ... and it is no longer the same ... I have no shame about not knowing the people that died there, for that happens all the time somewhere in the world, and I didn't know that many people in people in Boumerdes, Algeria before the may 2003 earthquake ... however, it never crossed my mind to check on my many friends in algiers...

    I didn't show that much concern for my dear friend and fellow RD Michelle Bustamente when her area of California was on fire (well I was concerned, but I didn't dare show some affection at the time, I regret it now ...)

    I am far from being a patriot, and I say it louder than most would, but I realize I could have better managed my relationship with those I consider as friends and those I truely love (love is, as I think of it, affection one shares, and that, more often than not, would touch friendship more han it would touch closer physical relationships) ...

    Any way, Dear Rif region is suffering, and as much as I would like to be a universal person, I feel its sorrow ... Not that I claim any special rights (I reclaim I am no patriot), but I feel so deeply that sorrow that I wish I could do more about it ...

    I will just state this once more : I believe there is no difference between any two human beings, I feel deep sorrow about the Al Hoceima Deads, but no more than I would feel about NY deads, Tel Aviv deads, or Beijin deads for that matter ...

   I also feel I have something in common with those people that I don't necessarily share with everybody else : a perfume, a sound, some colors, a flower's sent, whatever makes a sentiment of belonging to this area of the world ...

    I do try to fight it, but my friends in Al Hoceima, I feel your pain, and I feel it as part of my own pain ...

3/1/2004 3:51:50 AM UTC    Comments [0] 

   There are a few situations in life when you are unexpectedly caught with a show of affection that really matters ... And as it is unexpected, you rarely see it at the moment ...

   Although the last Earthquake that hit the region of "Al Hoceima" in Morocco has troubled me so much, which is the main reason I haven't blogged about it at all (I have as an imutable principle to never comment hot issues until they dig in and passion goes away), I have been hiding it way inside me to make sure I don't even think about it ... And that made the few calls/pings I got from some of my friends even more powerful ... They simply needed to know I was alright ... Thank you very much, and I now know who are my real friends ...

   A special thank you to Eileen, Clemens, Scott and Steven ...

3/1/2004 2:53:27 AM UTC    Comments [0] 

If you have been trying to reach me lately, as I know many have, my email has just changed... simply replace arrabeta.com by kemmou.com or use the comments onthis entry to reach me ...

2/28/2004 6:06:14 AM UTC    Comments [11] 

Don’t miss Tech·Ed 2004, the definitive Microsoft conference for building, deploying, securing and managing connected solutions. You’ll find 11 conference tracks and over 400 sessions. Get answers to your technical questions, meet industry experts, evaluate new products, and take advantage of extensive networking opportunities. Register today.

2/25/2004 1:59:54 PM UTC    Comments [20] 

Once again, virus makers try use Microsoft identity to spead their stuff ...

Take a close look at the logo (lacks the cut on the "O" and the connecting line between the "O" and the "S") -- they could do better ...

Microsoft	All Products |  Support |  Search |  Microsoft.com Guide
	Microsoft Home

Microsoft Customer this is the latest version of security update, the "February 2004, Cumulative Patch" update which resolves all known security vulnerabilities affecting MS Internet Explorer, MS Outlook and MS Outlook Express as well as three new vulnerabilities. Install now to help protect your computer from these vulnerabilities, the most serious of which could allow an malicious user to run code on your computer. This update includes the functionality of all previously released patches.

System requirements	Windows 95/98/Me/2000/NT/XP
This update applies to	MS Internet Explorer, version 4.01 and later MS Outlook, version 8.00 and later MS Outlook Express, version 4.01 and later
Recommendation	Customers should install the patch at the earliest opportunity.
How to install	Run attached file. Choose Yes on displayed dialog box.
How to use	You don't need to do anything after installing this item.

Off course, the attached file is a W32.Swen.A@mm virus ... which is not even new ...

Off course this virus is speading because of our use of privileged accounts (the virus writes to the registry to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion  and many of its subkeys ... wich only an administrator can do ...

I had earlier today a kind of heated exchange in a newsgroup about setting the aspnet_wp to use the "System" account ... we really should be doing better than that ...

Just to make sure you understand the message : MICROSOFT NEVER SENDS UPDATES BY EMAIL... NOR SHOULD EVER ANY SENSIBLE VENDOR DO...

2/24/2004 3:39:59 AM UTC    Comments [5]