Friday, October 31, 2008

Halal VS Haram

I got a book, "Halal Food Processing", from the library today. It discuss about Halal food and how they're suppose to be Halal, as from the Quran. Haram means prohibited, and another term is called 'Makrooh' which means dislikeable (a.k.a grey zones).

Some points to share are:

Meats certified Halal are animals that are killed while pronouncing the name of God, but does not hold true for fishes. Dead animals are Haram, but fishes are Halal in a way that "it is left to die a natural death" when removal from water. Unlike land animal, dead sea animals are permitted with reference to a tradition of a dead whale being a blessing by the God for food. As with fishes, some Muslims consider fishes without scales to be Haram.

Animals are NOT to be killed by stunning, but can be stunned unconscious first. It is not encouraged as the blood draining might not be as fast/complete compare to just killing the animals when it is conscious...with the fast heartbeat and all...

Sharp blade to ensure swift death and complete blood draining; whereby the jugular veins, carotid arteries, trachea and esophagus are to be cut.

No sharpening of knife in front of the animals to be killed, nor kill other animals in the presence of other animals, and no killing by severing of head.

Dismemberment while animals are still alive are not allowed (eg removal of horns). Scaling of fishes are to be carried out only when its completely dead. With reference from the book, it is sometimes a practice of some fast pace commercial slaughterhouse to start removing the horns, ears and front legs while the animal still seem to be alive...

Consumption of carnivorous animals with fangs (eg dogs and cats) and birds of prey are No No. Birds of prey are like eagle, refering to bird holding their food with claws. As with animals able to live on land and water like turtles cannot be consumed too. This is puzzling as some Muslims I knew ate crabs...maybe crabs are under the 'Makrooh' section...

And there's this rule to "Avoid the doubtful". Therefore if there's doubt about a restaurant not being Halal, forget about asking a Muslim friend to join in. After reading this book, I think I know how to appreciate the Islamic teachings from a whole new level, at least for the food part.


Axel blogged at 11:59 PM



Saturday, October 25, 2008

Courtesy from Yahoo News

TOKYO - A 43-year-old player in a virtual game world became so angry about her sudden divorce from her online husband that she logged on with his password and killed his digital persona, police said.
The woman, who has been jailed on suspicion of illegally accessing a computer and manipulating electronic data, used his ID and password to log onto the popular interactive game "Maple Story" to carry out the virtual murder in May, a police official in the northern city of Sapporo said Thursday. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of department policy.
"I was suddenly divorced, without a word of warning. That made me so angry," the official quoted her as telling investigators and admitting the allegations.
The woman, a piano teacher, had not plotted any revenge in the real world, the official said.
She has not yet been formally charged. If convicted, she could face up to five years in prison or a fine up to US$5,000.
Players in "Maple Story" create and manipulate digital images called "avatars" that represent themselves, while engaging in relationships, social activities and fighting monsters and other obstacles.
In virtual worlds, players often abandon their inhibitions, engaging in activity online that they would never do in the real world. For instance, sex with strangers is a common activity.
The woman used login information she got from the 33-year-old office worker when their characters were happily married to kill the character. The man complained to police when he discovered that his online avatar was dead.
The woman was arrested Wednesday and taken 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) from her home in southern Miyazaki to be detained in Sapporo, where the man lives, the official said.
The police official said he did not know if she was married in the real world.
Bad online behavior is usually handled within the rules set up by online worlds, which can ban miscreants or take away their virtual possessions.
In recent years, misbehavior in the virtual world has in some cases had consequences in reality.
In August, a woman was charged in the U.S. state of Delaware with plotting the real-life abduction of a boyfriend she met through the virtual reality Web site "Second Life."
In Tokyo, a 16-year-old boy was charged with stealing the ID and password from a fellow player of an online game in order to swindle virtual currency worth US$360,000.


Axel blogged at 12:13 AM



Monday, October 20, 2008

.pdf

Discovered something interesting just now. Open any '.pdf' file with texts such as a journal. Under "View", select "Read Out Loud" and then click on either "Read this page only" or "Read to end of document". There's actually a computerized voice to read out whatever words there are on those page(s). Have fun, haha!


Axel blogged at 9:50 PM



Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Chance. Its not what people gives, its what you fight for.

Oh yeah! Finally got my 2nd G iPod touch. I've been waiting for nearly 3 weeks since the whole country was out of stock. Salesperson have been telling me next week next week and i was thinking WTH is Apple doing!? Makes me wanna get it online...

The call I made to Apple before setting off to Parkway Parade told me that they've stocks there which just arrive the morning (emergency stock up???). Guess how many hotcakes were imported here? Only 30 sets!!! Speculated that it would be sold out on the day itself since its Hari Raya (and Children's Day LOL). iShop at Orchard said to call back when they've stocks but then till now no reply yet. I was lucky to have called in and also pick a premium reseller thats faraway from the Town area, haha.

So I gave away my nano to my sister together with the new earphone (I hate it, doesn't fit as well as the old design). As people are trying to unlock (a.k.a jailbreak) the iPhone and iPod touch so that users can use third party apps, I've got a picture to share:


Can this be considered an epic fail? LOL!


Axel blogged at 4:39 PM