Mengapa Kita Bertangguh?

Musuh dan penghalang utama kejayaan ialah sikap bertangguh (procrastination).

Tabiat buruk ini ada pada semua orang. Bertangguh adalah pencuri masa dan umur seseorang. Mereka yang telah berjaya ialah pejuang-pejuang yang telah berjaya menewaskan sikap tangguh dalam diri mereka.

Kenapa kita bertangguh?

1) Tugas yang kita hendak buat kelihatan tidak menyenangkan kita

2) Kita tidak faham dan tidak jelas apa tugas yang kita patut lakukan

3) Menganggap perkara tersebut terlalu mudah

4) Kita merasakan tugas yang akan kita lakukan amat sukar

5) Tidak ada perancangan yang baik

6) Rasa ragu-ragu pada kemampuan diri

7) Kita takut untuk berubah.

8) Kita takut gagal

9) Matlamat tidak jelas

10) Ingin membuat sesuatu itu menjadi sempurna sehingga menunggu saat yang sesuai

11) Kurang ilmu dan pengetahuan untuk melakukan tugas yang hendak dibuat.

12) Kita tidak senaraikan tugasan yang hendak dibuat

13) Melayan sikap malas

14) Amalan tabiat kerja last minutes

15) Kurang dorongan

16) Jiwa lemah dan tidak tegas pendirian

17) Sikap sambil lewa dan tidak ambil serius

18) Tiada semangat yang jitu dan mantap

19) Tabiat tidak menghargai masa

Jom lawan sikap bertangguh dan sama-sama hargai masa kita!

Sesungguhnya masa adalah nyawa kita.

Hitam Itu Menawan

HITAM BUKAN SOALNYA

Bukanlah warna itu yang membawa konotasi negatifnya. Kerana di dalam manuskrip tua Arab sekali pun, benua Afrika itu berkurun lama dipanggil sebagai Bilad al-Sudaan (sudan_mini.JPG) atau “Negeri Orang Hitam”. Ia adalah lanjutan daripada gelaran yang mereka berikan kepada kawasan Afrika Utara yang disebut sebagai Bilad al-Baydhaani atau “Negeri Orang Putih”.Tetapi sedikit demi sedikit orang Arab menyeberangi kawasan Sahara dan Savanna ke arah Selatan, penduduknya semakin berkulit gelap dan hitam lalu akhirnya kekal selama berkurun, benua Afrika itu dikenali sebagai Bilad al-Sudaan atau Negeri Orang Hitam.

Ia suatu ungkapan yang bermaksud mahu memberikan identiti kepada suatu kaum di sesebuah tempat. Tetapi ungkapan “Pak Hitam” atau “Nigger” memikul konotasi negatif. Ia muncul dari sikap memandang rendah kepada orang Afrika yang berlaku sama ada hasil kepercayaan kepada idea tertentu, atau berlaku tanpa sedar seperti keselesaan kebanyakan kita menggunakan istilah Pak Hitam di dalam laporan akhbar dan berita.

“Wahai sekalian manusia, sesungguhnya Kami telah menciptakan kamu dari kalangan lelaki dan perempuan, dan Kami jadikan kamu itu berbangsa-bangsa dan berqabilah, agar dengan kejadian yang begitu kamu saling kenal mengenal di antara satu sama lain” [Al-Hujurat : 13]

Muslim harus bebas dari sikap diskriminasi bangsa dan warna kulit.

Hitam itu menawan.

How to Cheat at Video Games

Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
Cheating might let you win a game but it won't help you win a massive tournament like the World Cyber Games.

­Once in a while, you just can't beat a game. You may be king among fraggers and Froggers but you'll eventually run up against a game that stops you in your virtual tracks. Maybe it's the game's fault -- poor game design can make some tasks impossible to complete. Whatever the cause, you may come to the conclusion that there's only one way you'll ever finish the game: you'll have to cheat.

Cheating in video games has been around almost as long as video games themselves. After all, video games are really just lines of programming code. If you know what you're doing and have the right equipment, you can insert a few lines of code and make a challenging game a breeze to complete. But not everyone has the skills to alter code while at the same time making sure the game stays playable.

It's important to remember this, too: Not all cheats give the player an advantage in the game. Some cheat codes actually make games more challenging by making enemies tougher or reducing a player character's resistance to damage. Others give you unusual skills not normally found in the game such as the ability to fly or walk through walls. And some create unusual -- and often hilarious -- cosmetic changes to the game world.

More How To: Build a Computer Add RAM to a Laptop Replace an iPod Battery

There are many different ways to cheat in video games. Not every method works with every game. Cheating in a console game can be very different than cheating in a computer game. Online play adds an entirely new set of challenges as well as ethical questions. If you're cheating at a single player game, you're really only affecting your own experience. Cheating online means you could be impacting other players. Most online game communities aren't very fond of cheaters.

The word "cheat" carries with it a stigma. It makes us think of lazy people who aren't willing to put in the hard work necessary to succeed. But that's not the case with every person who cheats in a video game. Let's take a look at the different approaches to cheating in video games.

Cheating with Video Game Codes

Some game developers build cheats directly into their video games. There are several reasons for doing this. One reason is that it can simplify the quality assurance (QA) phase of game development. The QA phase is also known as game testing. Testers try the game out to make sure it's playable and that there are no glitches in the game's code.

Courtesy Bungie Studios
Cheating online in games like Halo 2 might get you banned, so cut it out!

­If a game is particularly long or has many levels, items and characters, game testers may need a shortcut to test particular scenarios. For example, a fantasy role-playing game might allow characters to wield dozens of different weapons. Walking around the game's world and gathering these items might take several hours of playing. But if the developer builds in shortcuts, the game testers can get their virtual hands on these weapons without going through the effort of finding them. Sometimes these shortcuts stay in the game all the way through to publication.

Other game developers include cheats to encourage players to keep playing their games. No game developer wants a player to become so frustrated with a game that he or she abandons it. Cheat codes give players who have trouble with the game's mechanics a chance to complete the game. Codes can also increase a video game's replay value -- you've gone through the game once as a normal player, now, with the proper cheat code, you can play it as a godlike unstoppable force of nature. And some developers may include cheat codes simply because players expect to find them in modern video games.

Players may discover the secret to unlocking a shortcut by chance or by word of mouth. Some might try to scour the video game's code in search of shortcuts. Eventually word of the shortcuts spreads to sites like GameFAQs or IGN. All you have to do is search those sites for the game you're playing to see if there are cheat codes available.

Cheating with codes is usually pretty simple. Some games have a designated screen into which players can enter codes. Others require the player to pause the action and enter a sequence on a game controller. It might take a try or two to get the rhythm down, but before long you'll be able to turn your hapless character into an invincible warrior.

Islam, my love!

"Oh look at them! They look so sweet together...don't they?" my friend smiles dreamily at me.

In a corner, I see a young muslim girl wearing hijab shyly speaking to a boy beside her. They seem lost in their own private world. The boy inches closer to the girl, reaches out for her hand and bends his head closer to hers, they laugh at something he says. I try my best not to snort with disapproval . My friend laughs at the expression on my face. As we near a shop selling various trinkets, another couple walks toward us. This time, a boy proudly parades his pretty girlfriend as they saunter down the shopping isle. The girl is clad modestly from head to toe, with a shawl wrapped carefully around her head. Yet she is practically glued to her partner's side, unaware that her actions portray a distorted image of the modern muslimah. Every square foot of the mall is crawling with people from all walks of life. Most of them, couples having a good time. Laughing, holding hands, shopping. I hear my heart scream its displeasure. These couples aren't married! They look too young, and they definitely do not act like any married couple I know! How easily they flaunt their disobedience of Allah's law in front of the public, without a care in the world... I sigh inwardly.

At my age of 21 years, not having someone special in your life is considered strange. It is the hip and trendy thing to have a boyfriend and go out on dates to the mall. Texting each other every single time of the day is a must! Conversations over the phone can continue late into the night. This is a common scenario in western societies where the majority are not muslims. But shouldn’t citizens who are born muslim know better?

In the holy Quran, Allah SWT says,

"And come not near to the unlawful sexual intercourse(zina) Verily, it is a Fahishah [i.e. anything that transgresses its limits (a great sin)], and an evil way (that leads one to Hell unless Allah forgives him)."

Surat al Isra' verse 32

It may be they recite the Quran, but do not know the meaning of the verses. It may be they have read the meaning but have failed to interpret it. It may be they understand the meaning, but fail to act on it. The human heart is a complicated thing. Many muslim youth feel it is normal to ‘couple’ with each other. Breaking up is a phase everyone must go through. After the painful heart-break, the no longer devoted couple who had once declared undying love for each other move on and find another to fill the empty place in their hearts.

This cycle repeats itself until they find the right person to marry. This looks more and more like a plot from a Hollywood movie. And it comes as no surprise since it is the Western way of living, and it has garnered a huge following; muslim youths not withstanding. My eye is suddenly drawn to a young Arab couple. The lady is clad all in black, a hijab wrapping her head. The gentleman is pushing a stroller where an adorable baby peeks out to survey his surroundings. I would give everything to see a sight like this every time I went to the mall. My heart will no longer scream its silent protest but beat a steady drum of approval. Isn’t it beautiful if your first love was your one and only true love? No heartbreaks before this to mar the new relationship and the ties that bind you together is that of marriage. What a perfect union. As perfect as Islam and its followers who strive to remain in Allah’s blessing.

This fleeting, wonderful dream still lingers in my mind’s eye as I turn to my friend,
‘Husband, let’s go get something to eat, shall we?’
He smiles and takes my hand in his. “Anything for my sweetheart...”

Bermuda Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle covers roughly 500,000 square miles in the Atlantic Ocean. See more Bermuda Triangle pictures.

You won't find it on any official map and you won't know when you cross the line, but according to some people, the Bermuda Triangle is a very real place where dozen of ships, planes and people have disappeared with no good explanation. Since a magazine first coined the phrase "Bermuda Triangle" in 1964, the mystery has continued to attract attention. When you dig deeper into most cases, though, they're much less mysterious. Either they were never in the area to begin with, they were actually found, or there's a reasonable explanation for their disappearance.

Does this mean there's nothing to the claims of so many who have had odd experiences in the Bermuda Triangle? Not necessarily. Scientists have documented deviations from the norm in the area and have found some interesting formations on the seafloor within the Bermuda Triangle's boundaries. So, for those who like to believe in it, there is plenty fuel for the fire.

In this article, we'll look at the facts surrounding what we do know about the area as well as some of the most commonly-recited stories. We'll also explore the bizarre theories like aliens and space portals as well as the mundane explanations.

­Many think of the Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, as an "imaginary" area. The U. S. Board of Geographic Names does not recognize the Bermuda Triangle and does not maintain an official file on it. However, within this imaginary area, many real vessels and the people aboard them have seemingly disappeared without explanation.

The Bermuda Triangle is located off the Southeastern coast of the United States in the Atlantic Ocean, with its apexes in the vicinities of Bermuda, Miami, Florida, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. It covers roughly 500,000 square miles.

The area may have been named after its Bermuda apex since Bermuda was once known as the "Isle of Devils." Treacherous reefs that have ensnared ships sailing too close to its shores surround Bermuda, and there are hundreds of shipwrecks in the waters that surround it.

The Devils' Sea Image courtesy NASA Miyake Island, Japan The Devil's Sea, also called the Formosa Triangle, is located off the coast of Japan in a region of the Pacific around Miyake Island, about 110 miles south of Tokyo. Like the Bermuda Triangle, the Devil's Sea doesn't appear on any official maps, but the name is used by Japanese fishermen. The area is known for strange disappearances of ships and planes - at least by those in the United States. Another myth is that, like the Bermuda Triangle, the Devil's Sea is the only other area where a compass points to true north rather than magnetic north (more about this later). One popular theory is that volcanic activity around the area, particularly an underwater volcano, could be responsible for the disappearances.

How Car Engines Work

Photo courtesy General Motors
The Corvette ZR1's supercharged 6.2-liter V8 engine produces 620 horsepower standard. See more pictures of car engines. See more pictures of car engines.

­Have you ever opened the hood of your car and wondered what was going on in there? A car engine can look like a big confusing jumble of metal, tubes and wires to the uninitiated.

You might want to know what's going on simply out of curiosity. Or perhaps you are buying a new car, and you hear things like "3.0 liter V-6" and "dual overhead cams" and "tuned port fuel injection." What does all ­of that mean?

­­In this article, we'll discuss the basic idea behind an engine a­nd then go into detail about how all the pieces fit together, what can go wrong and how to increase performance.

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­The purpose of a gasoline car engine is to convert gasoline into motion so that your car can move. Currently the easiest way to create motion from gasoline is to burn the gasoline inside an engine. Therefore, a car engine is an internal combustion engine -- combustion takes place internally.

Two things to note:

• There are different kinds of internal combustion engines. Diesel engines are one form and gas turbine engines are another. See also the articles on HEMI engines, rotary engines and two-stroke engines. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

• There is such a thing as an external combustion engine. A steam engine in old-fashioned trains and steam boats is the best example of an external combustion engine. The fuel (coal, wood, oil, whatever) in a steam engine burns outside the engine to create steam, and the steam creates motion inside the engine. Internal combustion is a lot more efficient (takes less fuel per mile) than external combustion, plus an internal combustion engine is a lot smaller than an equivalent external combustion engine. This explains why we don't see any cars from Ford and GM using steam engines.