Thematic is a free, open-source, highly extensible, search-engine optimized WordPress Theme Framework featuring 13 widget-ready areas, grid-based layout samples, styling for popular plugins, and a whole community behind it. It’s perfect for beginner bloggers and WordPress development professionals (ThemeShaper).

I found Thematic while I was looking for a Theme Framwork for the new website that I’m working on.  Thematic is available in many languages, except those that are RTL like the Arabic language.  No Arabic support was bad news for me, as I needed Arabic.  However, I liked Thematic enough so I decided to localize it myself.

Below is the download link to the latest copy of the Arabic language files.  I will try to keep it up-to-date as much as possible, so make sure you check this page when there is a new release of Thematic.

Download for Thematic 0.9.6.2 (100% done).

To install the Arabic language files, simply upload the ar.po and ar.mo to your Thematic languages directory, and make sure you modify your wp-config.php file, if your default language is not Arabic.

define (‘WPLANG’, ‘ar’);

Please report any misspellings or translation errors..

Finding the HTC Droid Incredible Modem Driver for Windows 7 x64, was a pain in the ass.  So I thought I should post a download link here.

Update: The demo site is running WordPress 3 RC3 now..  The credentials below are still valid..

Live demo is still available on the same link, go here.  WordPress 3 RC1 RC3 can be downloaded form here.

WordPress 3 Beta 1 was made available for public on April 3, 2010.

Live demo is available here.

Use the credentials below to login:

usr: admin

pwd: Wordpre$$3

The database will be restored to its original state every night at 11:00PM, meaning any posts or changes you make to the demo site will be deleted.  Meanwhile, don’t change the credentials so other users can use it.

Want to download it? Click here.

Open for discussion..

On your Blackberry browser, go to http://mobile.vzw.com WITHOUT the “www” then click on the green icon that says Get Apps.  Now you should see a list of Apps, scroll down to number 15 and download Skype.

The official supported Blackberry devices are:  Tour 9630,  Storm-2 9550, Storm 9530, 8830, Curve 8530, and Curve 8330.  Please leave a comment if you can run it on other devices..

Skype mobile is not available for your phone

Skype mobile was officially released today for Verizon Wireless customers.  According to Skype’s official website, you can use Skype mobile with Blackberry (Tour 9630,  Storm2 9550, Storm 9530, 8830, Curve 8530, and Curve 8330) or Android (Motorola DROID, HTC DROID ERIS, and Motorola Devour).   I went to their website to download it on my Blackberry Storm 9530 running v5.0.0.328 on Verizon, I had to provide my phone number to get the download link via SMS, which seemed to be the only available way.   A minute later I received the following SMS “Click this link to download Skype: http://www.skype.com/m?phone=<phonenumber>.  Or type skype.com/m into your phone’s browser”.  Oh thanks for telling me that I can download it without giving you my phone number!  Anyway, I opened the URL and…… SuRpRiSE “skype mobile is not available for your phone”.  WTF I thought my phone is supported?  Yes and no..  Apparently they have a problem with the download page and everyone is getting the “skype mobile is not available for your phone” message, see this page.  So my  phone is supported, its just that I can’t download the damn thing!  Your shit is weak Skype!

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..

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!

 So here’s what we need:

• Create a new PHP page
• Create an account on Google AdSense
• Create AdSense for Search
• Create a new template in vBulletin to display the search result

Create a new PHP page

The code below is based on a post you can find here.   alright, so first I suggest you download a good editor like notepad++.  Create a new file with it, copy and and paste the code below and change "gsearch" and "gsearchTemplate" based on the comments in the code, then save the file with .php extention.  I’m calling my file/page gsearch.php, you can name your own whatever you want. 

<?php

// ####################### SET PHP ENVIRONMENT ###########################
error_reporting(E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE);

// #################### DEFINE IMPORTANT CONSTANTS #######################
define('NO_REGISTER_GLOBALS', 1);
define('THIS_SCRIPT', 'gsearch'); // << Change "gsearch" with the filename you'll be using. 

// ################### PRE-CACHE TEMPLATES AND DATA ######################
// get special phrase groups
$phrasegroups = array(

);

// get special data templates from the datastore
$specialtemplates = array(
    
);

// pre-cache templates used by all actions
$globaltemplates = array(
    'gsearchTemplate', // << Replace "gsearchTemplate" with your own unique name that you want to use for the template
);

// pre-cache templates used by specific actions
$actiontemplates = array(

);

// ######################### REQUIRE BACK-END ############################
require_once('./global.php');

// #######################################################################
// ######################## START MAIN SCRIPT ############################
// #######################################################################

$navbits = array();
$navbits[$parent] = 'Search Result'; // << Replace "Search Result" with whatever you want to call your page, this will also be used for the navbar.

$navbits = construct_navbits($navbits);
eval('$navbar = "' . fetch_template('navbar') . '";');
eval('print_output("' . fetch_template('gsearchTemplate') . '");'); // << Replace "gsearchTemplate" with your own unique name that you want to use for the template

?>

 Now that the page is done we can move on to finish the rest of the stuff.

Create an account on Google AdSense

 This one is easy enough, just go here and follow the road signs.

Create AdSense for search

Login to your AdSense account and look for AdSense Setup, click on it then click on AdSense for Search.   Now you should get the AdSense for Search wizard that helps you customize your search engine the way you want.  Personally, I like the single page criteria as opposed to the wizard.

Change the settings for the search type, keywords, language and look and feel the way you want, or need as the case may be.  Since everything is pretty much self explanatory, I am going to jump to Search Results Style.  And since we want to display the search results in our own page, we’re going to change opening of search result page to open results within my own site.

So type in your domain and the page you want to display the search results on.  In my case I called it gsearch.php, so it’ll be something like this http://www.yourdomain.com/gsearch.php

Change the Ad location and its colors, then give it a name and submit it to get the code.  You should get a code for the search box, and another one for the search results.

Creating the template

Go to your vBulletin Control Panel > Styles & Templates > Style Manger > and from All Style Options dropdown menu click on Add New Template.

Now you specify the template Title, and since I used gsearchTemplate in the code above, then that’s what I need to use here.   So you copy and paste the code below after changing what needs to be change (read the comments in the code), and you save the template.   

$stylevar[htmldoctype]
<html dir="$stylevar[textdirection]" lang="$stylevar[languagecode]">
<head>
<title>$vboptions[bbtitle]</title>
$headinclude
</head>
<body>
$header

$navbar

<table class="tborder" cellpadding="$stylevar[cellpadding]" cellspacing="$stylevar[cellspacing]" border="0" width="100%" align="center">
<tr>
    <td class="tcat">Title</td> // Replace "Title" with something meaningful like search results
</tr>
<tr>
    <td class="alt1">Google Search Results Code</td> // Replace "Google Search Results Code" with the acctual code you got after creating the Search for AdSense
</tr>
</table>

$footer
</body>
</html>


Alright, so now everything is in place and all we have left is to put the Google Search Box code where you want to display it. Personally I wanted my Search Box to appear in the header, check screenshot 1.   So I basically placed the Search Box code in its own table cell on my header.   Below is what I have on my header, yours should be somewhat similar depending on where you want to display the Search Box:

<!– Header –>

<table style="background-position: right top; width: 100%; background-image: url(‘**********bluetech/misc/header_bg.jpg’); background-repeat: repeat-x;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="140px" dir="rtl">
    <tr>
        <td>
        <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="140px" style="background-position: right top; width: 100%; background-image: url(‘***********bluetech/misc/header_logo.jpg’); background-repeat: no-repeat;">
            <tr>
                <td>
                &nbsp;</td>
                <td width="40%" style="padding: 20px"><div align="center">

<!– Google Search box –>
               
<form action="http://arabxperts.com/gsearch.php" id="cse-search-box">
  <div>
    <input type="hidden" name="cx" value="partner-*******************************" />
    <input type="hidden" name="cof" value="FORID:10" />
    <input type="hidden" name="ie" value="windows-1256" />
    <input type="text" name="q" size="31" />
    <input type="submit" size="20" name="sa" value="search" />
  </div>
</form>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.google.com/cse/brand?form=cse-search-box&amp;lang=ar"></script>

<!– END Google Search Box –>

                </div></td>
            </tr>
        </table>
        </td>
    </tr>
</table>

<!– /Header –>

One thing I forgot to mention, is that you need upload that PHP page we created for the search to the root of your website, or whatever you specified when you created your AdSense for Search.