Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Arabs' Golden Ages
Enjoy!
1001 Inventions and The Library of Secrets - starring Sir Ben Kingsley as Al-Jazari
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Are you right or left brained
(clockwise or anti-clockwise)?
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Midhat Pasha Between Yesterday and Today!
Friday, May 21, 2010
The Missing Word Game – Week 7
Let’s play the Missing Word game; participants will need to answer four questions. Answers are the keys to find the missing word.
The missing word consists of six letters. It is the last name of famous world cup goalkeeper. First person to find the word wins the game.
Questions:
1-FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) was founded in Paris in 1904. what is the name of first FIFA president?
2-The FIFA World Cup Trophy depicts two human figures holding up the Earth. The trophy stands 36.5 centimetres tall and is made by 18 carrat solid gold. How many kilos of gold?
3-Zakumi is the offical mascot of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Zakumi's birthdate coincides with a day known and celebrated as Youth Day in South Africa. In what month did Zakuni born?
4-Jabulani, the official match ball of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, is constructed using a new design; the surface of the ball is textured with grooves that is intended to improve the ball's aerodynamics. The match ball is made by which sportwear company?
The Missing Word Formula:
The first letter is same as the third letter of the FIFA president’s first name.
The second letter is same as one of the letters of Zakumi’s birth month.
The third letter comes in the alphabet with order number equals to the amount of the trophy’s gold weight + 1.
The fourth letter is the same as the last character in the first name of the founder of the sportswear company mentioned in question4.
The fifth letter + the sixth letter = proposition.
Good Luck
Friday, May 14, 2010
“Member of the Week” Contest – Week 6
A chef is preparing sauces using eight different ingredients – H, J, K, L, M, N, O, and P. according to the recipes; the following requirements apply to the use of the ingredients.
If J is used, both K and P must also be used.
M and N must always be used together.
If K is used, at least two of H, J, and O must also be used.
K and N cannot be used together.
M, O, and P cannot all be used in the same dish.
Questions:
1- which of the following is an acceptable combination of ingredients for a sauce?
(A)- H, J, K, O
(B)- H, L, M, P
(C)- L, M, N, P
(D)- K, L, M, O
(E)- M, N, O, P
2- In a sauce in which J is used, what is the smallest number of additional ingredients that would meet recipe requirements?
(A)- 1
(B)- 2
(C)- 3
(D)- 5
(E)- 6
Good luck
Friday, May 7, 2010
“Member of the Week” Contest – Week 5
Statement:
Naya, George, Jihad, Rafah, Sam, and Riad are all members of the Syrian Canadian Society of BC. They meet once a week for Basketball training.
Last week George arrived after Riad but before Jihad.
Sam arrived after Rafah but before Jihad.
Naya arrived after Rafah but before George.
Questions:
1-In which order COULD the team members have arrived to training?
(A)- Naya, Riad, Rafah, Sam, George, Jihad.
(B)- Rafah, Sam, Naya, George, Jihad, Riad.
(C)- Rafah, Riad, George, Naya, Sam, Jihad.
(D)- Sam, Naya, Riad, George, Jihad, Rafah.
(E)- Riad, Rafah, Naya, George, Sam, Jihad.
2-What are the minimum and maximum number of people, respectively, who could have arrived after Rafah and before George?
(A)- 0.4
(B)- 1.4
(C)- 0.3
(D)- 1.3
(E)- 3.3
Good Luck
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Syrian-Canadian? What does it mean?
ماذا تعني لك/ي أن تكون/ي سورياً كندياً؟
عبر/ي بثلاث أسطر عن ذلك
What does it mean to be a Syrian-Canadian to you, please write 3 sentences about that
Friday, April 30, 2010
“Member of the Week” Contest - Week 4
As per the members’ request, we have changed our contest for this week. The game will be in Arabic; it is the “Missing Word” game. First member to find the word wins the game.
Participants will need to answer four questions all about the Syrian Currency; the answers are the keys to find the missing word.
Good luck
الكلمة المفقودة مؤلفة من اربع احرف و لمعرفة هذه الاحرف عليك بحل الاسئلة الاربعة التالية
السؤال الاول: حملت النقود الورقية السورية صورا لابرز الصروح و أقدم الاوابد, كما تضمنت اشكالا و زخارف لمساجد و بيوت قديمة بالاضافة إلى صورا لانجازات سورية الحديثة فنيا, اجتماعيا و اقتصاديا. ما هي العملة الورقية التي تحمل صورة قلعة حلب؟
السؤال الثاني : يطلق السوريين على النقود كلمة "مصاري", يقال أن اصل هذه الكلمة مأخوذ من كلمة "المصريين" على اعتبار أنهم اول من ادخل العملة الورقية إلى سورية. من هو الحاكم المصري الذي أول من ادخل العملة إلى سورية؟
السؤال الثالث : في عام 1998 تم اصدار العملة الورقية السورية فئة المائة ليرة و تم طبع صورة مدرج بصرى على الورقة بالاضافة إلى صورة لشخصية تاريخية, من هي تلك الشخصية؟
السؤال الرابع : صدرت الليرة السورية عن طريق مصرف سورية لاول مرة عام 1919 و كانت تستعمل في سوريا و لبنان, كم كانت قيمة الليرة حينها قياسا بالفرنك الفرنسي؟
لمعرفة الاحرف الاربعة التي تؤلف الكلمة المفقود اليك المعلومات التالية
الحرف الاول: هو الحرف الثاني من فئة العملة الورقية التي تحمل صورة قلعة حلب
الحرف الثاني: هو الحرف الذي يمكن حساب ترتيبه بالابجدية العربية على النحو التالي: ( قيمة الليرة السورية قياسا بالفرنك الفرنسي في عام 1919) مطروحا منها العدد 6
الحرف الثالث: هو نفسه الحرف الثالث من اسم الحاكم المصري الذي أول من ادخل العملة الورقية إلى سورية
الحرف الرابع: هو نفسه الحرف الاول من اسم الشخصية المطبوعة صورتها على العملة الورقية السورية فئة المائة ليرة.
Friday, April 23, 2010
“Member of the Week” Contest - Week 3
Eight Businesses, A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H, are moving into a new eight-story building. Two businesses will not locate on the same floor.
Each business will occupy one entire floor, the floor of the new building are numbered one through eight from the ground floor to the top floor.
Any plan for locating the businesses in the building must meet the following requirements:
B is to locate on the sixth floor.
D is to locate on the fourth floor.
E is to locate somewhere below D’s floor.
Questions:
1- If A locates on a floor exactly three floors above E, A MUST be on floor
(A) Four
(B) Five
(C) Six
(D) Seven
(E) Eight
2- If F locates on a floor somewhere above G, and if G locates on a floor directly above H, which of the following COULD BE TRUE?
(A) G locates on floor seven.
(B) H locates on a floor somewhere above D.
(C) H locates on a floor directly above B.
(D) G locates on floor three.
(E) F locates on a floor somewhere below E.
Good Luck
Sunday, April 18, 2010
The Jasmine and the Olive Trees

Many years ago, like many first time fathers I was happy about my daughter’s arrival to this world. It was an exciting change to my life and a real passage to adulthood.
On that day I planted in our garden two trees, a Jasmine tree and an Olive tree. I wanted my daughter to grow healthy and wise like the Olive tree, flexible and beautiful like the Jasmine tree. One was hard, strong and fruitful and the other was nice, fragile and fragrant. I thought that a human being needs qualities from both to succeed in life.
With my daughter’s arrival I had dreams that extended beyond today and tomorrow. I had someone who would be looking up to me and who would expect me to provide her with the life she deserves. I had to be up to the task. At the same time she represented a way for me to fulfill through her some of my own dreams that I was not able to fulfill myself.
Now I had to really think beyond what I can see, so like many young families, we carried our bags and left for the horizon. We never reached the Horizon, but we reached the piece of land that is the closest to it. This is the place were the sun turns before it comes back to declare a new day.
This was the land of opportunities and beauty. There is no gold to sweep, but there is success to thrive for and achievements to work hard for. There are as well hardships to overcome and sorrows to languish on. It is not paradise that I found, but it is the closest place to paradise that I was able to find, and I wanted my daughter to grow up in it.
My daughter grew wise and beautiful as I wished. I had to nourish her everyday as you would do to a tree, and now I can start seeing the fruits that bear both the value and the fragrance that those trees have.
Friday, April 16, 2010
“Member of the Week” Contest - Week 2
Statement:
Busses 1,2, and 3 make one trip each day, and they are the only ones that riders A, B, C, D, E, F, and G take to work.
Neither E nor G takes bus 1 on a day when B does.
G does not take bus 2 on a day when D does.
When A and F take the same bus, it is always bus 3.
C always takes bus 3.
Questions:
1- Which of the following groups consists of riders who CANNOT take bus 1 to work on the same day?
(A) A, D, G
(B) D, E, F
(C) D, E, G
(D) E, F, G
(E) B, D, G
2- What is the maximum number of riders who could take bus 2 to work on a given day?
(A) 3
(B) 4
(C) 5
(D) 6
(E) 7
Good luck
Saturday, April 10, 2010
“Member of the Week” Contest
1-Read the statement.
2-Understand the facts and rules that appear in the statement.
3-Read the questions.
4-Select the best answer to each question.
5-Post your answers through “Add a comment”.
Note: The facts and rules in a common statement apply to all questions, and the conditions appear in a question apply to that question only.
Week 1
Statement:
T lives in a smaller house than her brother.
T lives in a larger house than her parents.
T’s children live with T.
T has no other relatives.
Questions:
1- If four females and two males live in smaller houses than T’s brother, how many of T’s children are boys and girls, respectively?
(A)1, 0
(B)0, 1
(C)2, 1
(D)1, 2
(E)2, 0
2- If the number of males related to T equals the number of females related to T, which of the following can be true?
(A)T has exactly 4 children.
(B)T has exactly 3 children.
(C)T has exactly 1 child.
(D)T has exactly 6 children.
(E)T has exactly 2 children.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Vancouver Is
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Vancouver in the Eyes of A Syrian Soul

I wanted to walk around the city streets exactly as they told me in the guidebook, turn left, turn right, eat Japanese food and be careful of Hasting street after dark, that was essentially the guide for me, I literally did what is written there and I did feel good about it.
My first trip to the Canadian West Coast was intense, it was for only four days and I wanted to see everything that the guidebook wrote about, I didn’t sleep well since I have no time to waste. 4am was my waking time every morning, walking from my hotel to the central station to catch the bus that will take me to my destinations I planned to go to, no time to organize my visit and no time for booking my ticket either, just go there take the bus and do it.
My hectic and unrealistic schedule made me cover all of Vancouver attraction locations and it took me to whistler and Victoria, in just 4 days before going back to my beloved Toronto.
The picture perfect of every neighborhood corner in Vancouver is an achievement, this city is only 150 years old and it doesn’t hide its youth, yet it manages to develop a distinct character in its building architecture as well as its urban design vocabulary that many cities around the world wanted to copy it. The ocean adds one more natural beauty on top of what is already beautiful.
Walking on the street of Vancouver is a challenge, there is no one element to look at, you have hundreds in every scene you see and all of those elements need to be looked at separately to enjoy, yet you can’t, it’s like being in an art museum having all kind of painting from different art schools on one wall, how can you choose where to look or how to concentrate, it’s hard, may be impossible, however you have no other choice being in a beautiful chaos…. The mountains, the sky, the signs, the canopies, the noise, the streets, the people, the pretentiousness, the homeless, the weird, the liberals, the conservative, the Asian, the blonds, the sexy, the runners, the skaters, the cyclist, the traffic lights, the buildings, the energy, the food, the smell, the fragrances, the sunglasses, the wine, the tea, the coffee, the chocolate, the shoes, the ice cream, the languages…the, the, the…hundreds of elements and I’m in the middle…I needed to go away from this wall.
The next morning I went to whistler, the famous ski resort in the mountains surrounding Vancouver.
Again I did what’s written in my guidebook, I start walking the trail, I went through woods surrounding the mountain it’s a nice long walk, the funny thing is that I was wearing pairs of running shoes in the snow, it wasn’t easy but I managed to do it.
Back to my trip, after walking for almost an hour the trees on the road starts getting less intense and without any preparation I came up with the most beautiful scene of the Canadian landscape, a glacier lake surrounded by mountains and the ice start to melt away, I was staring at the scene as I have never seen anything as beautiful before, after the appreciation of this view I continued my walk and again after another hour I get to the biggest lake in whistle, they call it lake green. It was bigger and more beautiful than the earlier one, I just wished that I could show my parents this place and enjoy it with them. By now I was exhausted and I quickly continue walking till I get to the bus stop that will take me back to the village where I can go back to Van.
Arriving to my hotel in Van, and I immediately get to bed preparing myself to the next adventure…Victoria city….
The way to Victoria was fun, bus then boat then bus again. The two trees at the entrance of Fairmont hotel Victoria, were my great memory, those trees were like two old guards, they are tiered but they can’t rest, they have to stay standing and protect the hotel yet they are old and they need to lean on the merciful earth underneath them, beautiful in a way that I can’t even describe them.
Get back to Vancouver using the same method but in reverse, bus, boat, bus again…but this time to end my trip I went straight to the airport where I went back in 5 hours trip to Toronto,