Battery Energy Drink

Yabood | January 15, 2012 - 8:12 pm

I have history with this drink. The first time I had Battery Energy Drink was about 5 or 6 years ago back in Baghdad. The can was/still so different and interesting, so I thought I should try it instead of drinking the usual, which was Coke at the time. Long story short, I loved it. I become addicted to it. I used to drink 2 – 4 cans a day.. I then moved to the U.S. over 3 years ago, and couldn’t find it anywhere. Today however, and thanks to Amazon, I can have all the Battery I need to “keep me going”. If you like energy drinks, I suggest you try this one. Its so good that I stopped drinking energy drinks all together when Battery wasn’t available.

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Writing Arabic in Photoshop

Yabood | August 27, 2011 - 11:10 pm

اكتب عربيWriting Arabic in Photoshop was always a huge problem for me.  It forced me into looking for other alternatives that support the Arabic language.  The ones that are worth mentioning are GIMP and Pixelmator.  However, while both had a decent Arabic support, they fell short in almost everything else, so I was back to square one.  See the thing is, there’s  a Photoshop version that Supports Arabic perfectly.  Its called “Photoshop ME” for Middle East and is sold by Winsoft, not Adobe.  The problem with this version though, is the fact that its a lot more expensive.  Not to mention that their license agreement for the student edition/discount prevents you from using it in a commercial context, where Adobe doesn’t.  Long story short, I needed Photoshop to start working on my new project, and decided to go ahead and purchase the Creative Suite – Web Premium (Student Edition) from Adobe, knowing that I won’t be able to use it for any Arabic related stuff.

After a while, I needed to make some graphics with Arabic text, so I started looking for a solution again.  Only this time I stumbled on this page that saved my life, and allowed me to use my current Photoshop version to write Arabic.  I just download the template that’s posted on the page, fired up Photoshop, and started writing Arabic.   Below are the instructions on how to use the template, I copied it from their website:

Open the template in Photoshop CS4. Select the existing text on the type layer of the template and replace it with the Arabic you want. Using this template, you can now cut, copy, and paste between applications without destroying your text flow.

I am now using the template with Photoshop CS 5.1, and everything is working properly.  Thank you Adobe!

P.S.  If the page is not available for whatever reason, you can download the template from HERE.

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46.2-862 Reckless Driving in VA

Yabood | November 3, 2009 - 2:08 am

About a month ago, I got a reckless driving ticket (46.2-862) here in VA.  I was heading to South Carolina to meetup with a friend of mine who just arrived from Baghdad.  I was doing 85 mph on a 65 mph highway, which automatically translates into reckless driving for two reasons.  One, I was doing 20 mph above the speed limit.  Two, I was above 80 mph.  Anyway, I knew it was a big deal, cause my buddy Adam had told me about it multiple times, and yet I managed to get one.  I figured I should look online and see what’s so scary about this reckless driving thing.

What I’ve learned online was shocking and really scared me.  This whole thing with the reckless driving being a class one misdemeanor, really bothered me for two straight weeks.  Apparently, a reckless driving ticket in VA means, a class one misdemeanor which is a permanent criminal record and six points on my driving record.  It also means that I have to disclose it every time I apply for a job, or deal with the immigration office or even the insurance company, so that made me take it very very seriously.  After reading online for days, I decided to get a lawyer from a place close to the court where I was suppose to go for a trial.  I found one online, with one positive review and that was good enough for me.  I called him and explained the situation, then he asked me a few questions about my driving record and whether I had any other speeding or reckless driving tickets.  After talking to the lawyer for ten minutes or so, I decided to hire him.

Today was my trial day, and the lawyer was able to reduce the charge to improper driving (46.2-869), which was an excellent outcome, since it translates into 3 points instead of 6 and no criminal record.  The lawyer charged me $350, which I paid upfront when I hired him over the phone, and the court fee was $71 plus $200 for the reduced ticket itself.  Now to me, paying $621 to make a criminal record go away, is a pretty sweet deal.

So here’s my advise to you, if you got a reckless driving ticket, don’t ignore it, and don’t act like its not a big deal because it is.  Don’t cheap out and get a lawyer, a good lawyer will save your ass like he saved mine, plus you won’t have to show up in court, which was a major inconvenience in my case since my court was four hours away from where I live.

I hope you found this information helpful, and please don’t hesitate to leave a comment if you have any questions..

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Email of the year!

Yabood | October 5, 2009 - 7:26 pm

*** DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS E-MAIL ***

The last processing action taken on your case

Receipt Number: ****************

Application Type: I485 , APPLICATION TO REGISTER PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR TO ADJUST STATUS

Current Status: Notice mailed welcoming the new permanent resident.

On<date>, we mailed you a notice that we had registered this customer’s new permanent resident status. Please follow any instructions on the notice. Your new permanent resident card should be mailed within 60 days following this registration or after you complete any ADIT processing referred to in the welcome notice, whichever is later. If you move before receiving your card, please call our customer service center at 1-800-375-5283.

If you have questions or concerns about your application or the case status results listed above, or if you have not received a decision from USCIS within the current processing time listed*, please contact USCIS Customer Service at (800) 375-5283.

*Current processing times can be found on the USCIS website at www.uscis.gov under Check My Case Status and Check Processing Times.
*** Please do not respond to this e-mail message.

Sincerely,

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

FuCKiNg SwEEt!

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