I have not been flying too many economy long haul flights lately, and was awakened by some remarks from my Lufthansa "flight attendant". I asked about the choice I have for drinks, and was not happy with the brands they had. She said " this is economy, it's free ".

I remember talking with some friends at some point in the past about the service (actually the lack of service would be more acurate) in economy class, and I believe it was Clemens that dubbed it "Cattle Class"...

8/9/2005 1:19:48 AM UTC    Comments [0] 

    Oh Boy, Oh Boy... during the month of June, I spent all my time in Hotels, planes, airport lounges ... etc. I only spent three nights sleeping on my bed.

   So, lots of traveling, no so much time for my friends - but I will make up for it  - and a great number of things to blog. I will rest a little bit today, and enjoy a an evening alone at home... Staring tomorrow, I will be blogging about Mauritius Island, Pakistan Developer Conference, Dubai, Lagos, Nairobi and Mombasa. I even have some fun stories like having been baptised with a new name : "Wambua" which litteraly means "Rain Man"... and that was only a side effect of having to have a tribe...

   I am really looking forward to a couple of days of "normality". before I go back to more travel and even more madness.

6/28/2005 9:28:42 AM UTC    Comments [0] 

Check this out :

http://msdn.microsoft.com/elearning/

6/4/2005 3:23:41 PM UTC    Comments [3] 

I have been googling myself today (I never said my ego was not super inflated), and stumbled upon an a blog entry talking about the presentation on .Net vs. J2EE I did in Riyadh last month (The entry is in Arabic). There are a few things I think I should correct, as I think the remarks were not ill intended:

• The author claims that I said I would be perfectly neutral. I would have been foolish to claim perfectness in anything. I have only said that I would be as neutral as possible, and precised that I my own personnal choice was very clear, and that I prefered .Net
• The author said that I didn't succeed in being neutral, and that I was too favorable to .Net. I have had many reactions from attendees that were favorable to .Net that said that I was giving J2EE much more credit than it deserves. I believe that when people are there to discuss, we can talk in a serene and calm technical atmosphere.

5/27/2005 1:42:23 PM UTC    Comments [4] 

I have not been blogging lately, and will not be doing much of it in the next few days... It is very hard for me to cope with this...

5/9/2005 11:23:32 PM UTC    Comments [9] 

As I promised during my sessions at the Microsoft Zirvesi, here are my slide decks (I will be publishing the demos later).

Visual Studio 2005 : new features for the web services developer (926 KB)

DotNet vs j2ee (1.4 MB)

Developing Mobile Web Applications With ASP.NET (1.65 MB)

Compact Framework _ part 1 (3.78 MB)

Compact Framework _ part 2 (1.47 MB)

5/2/2005 8:20:15 AM UTC    Comments [0] 

   I will celebrating starting today in Casablanca, and not finishing until the end the month in Istanbul... Some of friends will be throwing a "bachelor party" for me Sunday in Istanbul, as I am joining Microsoft, letting go of my independent status. Then there is the very first time the anti-suckiness club meets in full membership, then the Turkey Developer Summit, then a friend's birthday... It is going to be a big long party.

4/22/2005 6:29:38 PM UTC    Comments [2] 

   Bye Bye Casablanca. Our relationship goes back to my very first day in life, even my very first second. Even though on paper, I am registered as being born in Figuig, my parents home town, on the 16th of February, I actually I was born in Casablanca sometime in late January 1968. I have traveled a lot, and I have loved some cities, hated others, but Casablanca will always hold a special place in my heart.

   Bye Bye Casablanca. I have seen your many faces, and the take time had on your physionomy. I remember when we were children, you and I, and you were already a promise of a metropolitan culture. I remember when your seaside's nights were rocked by Elvis, the Beattles, the Eagles, Jhon Lennon, Bob Dylan, Joe Cocker, David Bowie,  ABBA, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Simon&Garfunkel, ...etc. At that time, you were still as oriental as ever, and your evenings echoed the songs of Oum Kalthoum, Mohammad Abdelwahab, Abelhalim Hafiz, Farid Al Atrash, Nazim Al ghazali, Sabah Fakhri ...etc. Your beaches in the summer danced Flamenco, your weddings sounded Andalucian tarab, and in the trenches, one could loudly hear the reborn pop music of Nass Al Ghiwane...

   Bye Bye Casablanca. You saw me grow, and witnessed my early successes and failures. You brought me my first loves, my passion for electronics and then for computers, my inability to learn music or dance, my first ink portraits, my first poems. You inspired my dreams, and showed me the stars and the comets.You also saw me part from you for a few years, looking for other constallations, but reclaimed me so strongly I dwindled back in a hurry.

   Bye Bye Casablanca. You were harsh on me when I started my first business. I started in a market with 3 competitors, and 12 more saw the light within 6 months... You were harsh on me as well when you let my best friend and business partner whom I loved silently get killed for the stupidest of reasons. You made me glorious in the culture market, and then in the PR market, but each time letting me down at the highest of my vain glory. Were you just reminding me of my first and truest passions ? You gave me a home for my sweetest moments, gave me a the sweetest of daughters, then turned my life into neverending conflicts. You still gave me a nest from which I could get reborn from my ashes...

   Bye Bye Casablanca. I don't think I know you anymore. While I was busy with my little ambitions and daily troubles, you changed so much on me. You music is no longer mine. You don't even seem to be keen on diversity anymore. Your gardens and parks don't look green anymore. Your dreams seem so far away from mine. I can hardly find anything to tell you anymore... Or maybe I grew up on you, and you don't recognize me anymore.

   Bye Bye Casablanca. I will miss you a lot. Sure I will come every so often and visit. You will always have a precious spot in my heart and  big chunk of my memory, but it is time we part and become friends again...

4/22/2005 5:52:06 PM UTC    Comments [3] 

   Are you interested in experimenting with SQL Server 2005 (formerly codenamed Yukon), but don't have the time, the bits or the resources to install it and test it yourself ? Maybe you have it intalled, but it is taking you to much time to figure out the features ? MSDN has just launched SQL Server 2005 virtual labs you can use as part of the Visual Studio hosted experience. On the menu is a great selection of labs you can choose from :

• SQL Server 2005 Integration Services  
• SQL Server 2005 Introduction to SQL Server Management Studio  
• SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services  
• SQL Server 2005 Server Management Objects  
• SQL Server 2005 SQL CLR Integration  
• SQL Server 2005 SQL Query Tuning  
• SQL Server 2005 SQL Server and ADO.NET (Lab A)  
• SQL Server 2005 SQL Server and ADO.NET (Lab B)  
• SQL Server 2005 T-SQL Enhancements  
• SQL Server 2005 Web Services  
• SQL Server 2005 XML Capabilites 

Have fun!

4/5/2005 7:05:42 PM UTC    Comments [0]