As we are becoming more digital, many of the things we used to be so excited about are fading into history. The top three companies immediately comes to my mind that we should thank for this are Apple, Google, and Facebook. Particularly, Apple CEO, Steve Jobs. His “i” things, iPod, iPhone, iMac, etc. totally affected how we live, do business, acquire information, and connect with others.
They created tools and gadgets that got us so used to do things much easier and faster, touch-screens mobile phone, blazingly fast Internet, and the ability to have the world at our fingertips in seconds. We’re entering 2010 with all kinds of new gadgets, gizmos, and tech tools.
Here are the items most Washingtonians and I think the rest of our nation will stop using in 2010. If not 2010, latest 2011. But wait, there’s more
As the events in Iran have taken the center stage for several days now, I thought it’d be good for us all to get a little education on the context all this is happening in.
The current resistance in Iran is part of a struggle going back more than one hundred years, and has gone through lots of ups and downs along the way. And as you can probably guess, like always, are good ol’ US of A also has had a lot to say along the way.
And, as you probably also guessed, oil has been a major game maker since the beginning and keeping our tanks full and our SUVs running was as big of a deal back then as it is now. But wait, there’s more
Here is the list of great things happened to our nation capital I remember. If we missed something, please send it to us and we make sure to add it to the list: 1. This guy finally left Washington for good
2. We got a new president or better say a Blackberry-addicted President His $800 billion stimulus package was stuffed with programs and grants to spur innovation and invigorate entrepreneurs.
3. We got a new Federal CIO and CTO to guide our technology policy: Virginia Tech Sec Aneesh Chopra and DC CIO Vivek Kundra. Vivek has been Mr. Transparency with projects like data.gov and recovery.gov that bring government spending out of the shadows, while Aneesh, has been guiding Obama’s policies in things like health care, energy independence, and education. But wait, there’s more
Since their opening in April of 2008 in DC, I finally got a chance to visit the place. It’s truly Awesome! It is certainly one of my favorite museums not only in D.C. but anywhere. I am always intrigued by history and you will get a ton of it here and from the different types of news mediums that are used today and yesterday. What an amazing display of the history of news/journalism.
The Newseum in Washington, DC is a six-level, high-tech and interactive museum tracing the history of news reporting from the 16th century to the present day. In 250,000 square feet of exhibit space, the Newseum offers visitors 15 theaters, 14 major galleries, two state-of-the-art broadcast studios and a 4-D time-travel experience. The exhibition galleries explore news history, electronic news, photojournalism, world news and how the media have covered major historical events. But wait, there’s more
If the News turns out to be true, it will be a fantastic News for the people of Iran living in and out of the country. For sure, it will be a good News for the region and the rest of the world. But wait, there’s more
The Iranian struggle for democracy has taken unprecedented turns since June 12th presidential election. Iranians have shown resilience and have pressed on their democratic demands on the face of continuous violence and escalating repression.
I just found this controversial new video ad on Youtube. It is an anti Soda Ad in NYC which I have been trying to promote to my fellow Washingtonians past there years.
The Ad was recently released by NYC Health Department which I hope the DC health department follows soon. While waiting, let’s spread the word – beauty of internet and blogging
The video is a graphic Youtube feature in fight against obesity. American Beverage Assoc. owned by the fat guys is wasting no time to fight back
Marrakesh is another Moroccan restaurant every Washingtonian should give it a try at least once in their life time. It is one or two blocks from Convention Center in NY Ave in Washington, DC. I’ve been there six or seven times since I moved to DC back in 1985, most times with a large group of ~10 people on a Friday or Saturday night.
Make sure to bring your appetite as I predict you won’t have enough room for lots of food. There’s NO MENU other than vegetarian/non so you take what you get. Plan on staying a while. Seven courses makes for a long, full evening! We had a reservation at 8:00 and didn’t leave until 11:30. The service is sometimes slow at times, but not in a way that makes you feel forgotten; the servers simply ran off to… prepare a birthday processional! Or a bachelorette processional! Or build a platform for the belly dancer to perform on!
Good place to go for a large group of people/celebration – particularly birthday parties. Its not often that you find a restaurant that combines a cultural experience (eating with your hands), wonderful service, communal eating- and great vegetarian options.
At first Marrakesh is hard to spot, because the name is written on a small sign in Arabic in front of a nondescript building with no windows which makes it look like a bomb shelter from the outside. You have to knock in order to be let in the door, which I thought was interesting. The inside is nicer than you expect from the outdoor facade. Inside, you sit amongst all the patrons in an open room that fits a seemingly endless quantity of people.
The decor is very true to what I imagine a real Moroccan restaurant would be like. There are beautiful rugs on the floor and guests are seated on little couches with a small table for everyone to share. No plates here at Marrakesh, though.
It’s sort of pricey — there were four of us and I ended up paying about $188 including tip for the meal and four glasses of red wine. A good thing to remember is your ATM card, because though they don’t take credit cards, there is a cash machine on the premises.
The meal consists of about seven dishes, including:
1: Roasted eggplant salad + cucumber, tomato, & carrot salad
2. B’ stella [sweet flaky pastry filled with chicken, egg, nuts, etc.]
BELLY DANCER INTERMISSION
3. Chicken and olives – It is amazingly tender
4. Lehma/ lamb and honey
5. Veggie cous- cous
6. Fresh fruit & nuts
7. Mint tea
The servers do a great job of explaining how to do the ritual hand washing and the other parts of the meal that aren’t typical in restaurants.
We walked back through the main dining room to “the club”. The club has it’s own bar and own dining area. It also has a dance floor. So, after waiting for a few more parties to arrive, a belly dancer came out and did her thing. She even took people from each table to dance with her. Many of the belly dancer are tattooed, but it’s the closest I’ve gotten to forgetting my troubles and feeling far away from Middle East.
Be careful in the neighborhood when you get out, unless you’ve valeted your car. It’s in a somewhat “transitioning” neighborhood but is still a little scary. Marrakesh is close to the Convention Center metro stop.
The entire experience is about 3 hours long and well worth it. It is a unique way to hang with friends and especially good for people who are tired of traditional restaurants. It is really fun and delicious and I would definitely go back.
Marrakesh
617 New York Ave NW
(between N 6th St & N 7th St)
Washington, DC 20001
(202) 393-9393 map
Nearest Transit:
Mt Vernon Sq – 7th St|Convention Center (Green, Yellow)
Gallery Pl-Chinatown (Red, Green, Yellow) Attire: Casual
As we are wrapping up the year 2009, I felt like wrapping up the top iPhone Apps of the year for my fellow Washingtonians who are crazy about iPhone.
Apple continued to build it’s massive iPhone app store in 2009. As the quality of apps increased, we saw pretty much everything in our daily life could be done through our iPhone. From checking our bank balances to our stock portfolio, to checking movie times to making a reservation…like the commercials say…there’s an app for that. I look forward to the apps that come our way in 2010.
It is amazing how Apple started with their iPod touch that became immediately recognizable names around the world and then it came iPhone with such great success. Considering their tough competition – Droid, Android, etc, not sure how long Apple can sustain their leadership in the space. I think the key to their success has been the ever-growing app store which currently boasts over 100,000 apps . Although, it is a big number, the majority of apps available are less than appealing, there are a few gems that stand out from the rest.
Although, I am an Android believer, I know many of you in Washington, DC will continue using iPhone and most likely will keep it through out 2010. I have put together a list of top five iPhone Apps in 2009 for you. I think they will stay popular through out the next year too.
Facebook 3.0
Allows you to access your friends, notes, pictures, and events using almost every feature the actual site offers. This app, based on the enormous social networking site, has seen many changes and just keeps getting better with time. Here’s the full list its features:
1. The “new” News Feed
2. Like
3. Events (including the ability to RSVP)
4. Notes
5. Pages
6. Create new photo albums
7. Upload photos to any album
8. Zoom into photos
9. Easier photo tagging
10. Profile Pictures albums
11. A new home screen for easy access to all your stuff, search, and notifications
12. Add your favorite profiles and pages to the home screen
13. Better Notifications (they link to the comments so you can reply)
14. Quickly call or text people right from the Friends page
15. Messages you are typing will be restored if you quit or are interrupted by a phone call
Fandango
Fandango is out for the iPhone/iPod touch as a free download. There are a lot of movie apps for the iPhone with showtimes and trailers out there, but Fandango is the 800 pound gorilla for the US market’s online movie info and ticket purchasing. It links to more than 16,000 domestic screens. It allows you to view trailers, see showtimes, purchase tickets and read reviews using this free movie app. This is a must have for any moviegoer, giving you all you need to know about movies in your area at your fingertips.
To make purchasing easy, you can enter your credit card details in the app. Fandango says it is securely stored, and it hides all but the last 4 digits of your credit card. On the other hand, if your iPhone is stolen somebody can see a lot of movies, as there is no password protection on the ‘buy’ button.
It’s a very good way to get tickets in a hurry if you are out and about. Fandango usually charges about a buck for each ticket, but when the lines are long it’s worth it. Note: According to the Fandango site: “Convenience charges currently range from $0.75 to $1.50 per ticket depending on geographic location. IMAX screening and some special events have a $2.00 convenience charge.”
Since you can’t print your ticket from the iPhone, Fandango sends you a pick up code in an email, or you can show your credit card at the theater, and in some cases you can go to an automated kiosk at the theater. Fandango knows what redemption method is used at the theater you’re attending, so the email will advise you.
Mobile Navigator
Filling the void left by the default maps application, this app offers turn-by-turn directions from your device just like any dedicated GPS would. It provides a landscape GPS with plenty of features and a user interface that makes sense.
Navigation for iPhone absolutely rocks!! Compared to anything I’ve seen so far, Navigation has done an amazing job. Voice is clear, prompts are at the right time, signs and Reality view is the most amazing piece of this software. The app offers turn-by-turn directions from your device just like any dedicated GPS would. It provides a landscape GPS with plenty of features and a user interface that makes sense. Any moron can follow directions with this. For $70 its a good deal.
Pros:
Very accurate
Great clear maps
Amazing graphics
Loads fast
Doesn’t crash or freeze
animation and rendering is really smooth.
Better than any GPS I have purchased so far.
Cons:
Takes time to start at first.
No real time traffic yet. (People would pay for extra features)
Can’t buy custom voices (male, female, personalities, sexy etc) (People would pay for extra features like this)
Custom cursor (Car, SUV, pointer etc icon)
Takes a while to install, the app is HUGE
TweetDeck
I haven’t tried this one yet. If it works anything like the desktop version, I will also be making the switch. Apparently, the app version features the same column-based friend group structure as the desktop version, the ability to synch with the desktop version, and Facebook-esque status updates. I understand all the wonderful features that can be found in the TweetDeck desktop app are packed into this iPhone version. With a sleek interface and great features, this app is one of the best of the many Twitter apps out there. Get it here
Dropbox
It allows you to sync up with your Dropbox account and have access to all of your files right from your device. You can download files, upload photos, and maintain control of your folders.
Definitely worth seeing it a few times till you get the story right. But, I don’t think it is the greatest movie of all time as you would be lead to believed by the over hyped comments on twitter. According to Twitter Sentiment (a site which analyzes the sentiment of Tweets), about 75 percent of people are saying good things about the movie. The site counts a little bit ovr 111k positive recent Tweets with the word “avatar,” compared to 37.5K negative ones.
During the movie, you forget about the real world for 3 hours and if you turn your cell phone off you will forget you even have one. At the Uptown theater, you could not miss audience laughing at the blue creatures in the beginning of the movie. By the end of the movie at scenes where you would be able to hear…the theater was completely quiet in full concentration. The entire theater applauded, and when you stepped out it was weird going back to reality.
Anyway, I think the movie was great. Not because of the visual effects and stretching the frontiers of animation. Its about realizing the value of nature.
As we are becoming more digital, many of the things we used to be so excited about are fading into history. The top three companies immediately comes to my mind that we should thank for this are Apple, Google, and Facebook. Particularly, Apple CEO, Steve Jobs. His “i” things, iPod, iPhone, iMac, etc. totally affected how we live, do business, acquire information, and connect with others.
Elias Shams
Kamran Abdi
Leila Nouri
