This is the third book I read on the subject of blogging. The author of this book, Biz Stone, is the Blogger Senior Specialist at Google. I liked the book because it can be helpful to beginners and advanced bloggers on the same way. I think the writing style of Biz Stone is what makes this book special. When I read it, I felt more like reading a blog.

One of my favorite parts was the in fifth chapter: Blogging in Business. The story of Matt Haughey who started his PVRblog as a side project and was amazed how a blog could turn to be a silver mine.

From the back cover:

This book “is not just a how-to-get-started guide but a next-generation blogging book for anyone who wants to keep their blog blooming.”

I’m hooked to Lifehacker. This is the best blog around in a while. I always thought Gawker Media would make some great stuff. Gizmodo was good, but this one is my favorite.

Some of you may have noticed that I did not post anything about the counter-terrorism conference which takes place in Riyadh these days. I think such conferences are useless as long as the government — and the people — are not admitting that we have some serious problems in the religious establishment and the educational system. Prince Abdullah said that we must attack the grassroots of terrorism, but I’m not seeing any action to do so. The way the officials here talk about terrorism gives you the feeling that we have an attack every five or ten years, while a quick look to this report will tell you something totally different. The extreme mentality has been in control in this part of the world for more than 200 years, and it will take a very long time to be changed.

The first school in my hometown, Hassa, is getting a makeover.

The story of the first man who drove “The Horse of Devil,” is a good example to understand the Wahabbi mind. Those people look in suspicious to anything different or anything new. It could be because they used to live isolated in their desert, but I think the religious establishment have played a major role in shaping the minds of those people.

Reem al-Saleh: “If I could vote.”

I’ve said before that I’m moving to a new apartment this semester. With three other lads, this is our very first own apartment. The place has two rooms, a kitchen and a bathroom. I’ll share a room with my lifetime friend Mo, whose also a cousin of mine.

Last night, we went shopping for furniture at IKEA. Probably some will always consider them as a “semi-disposal Swedish furniture,” but I think many of their pieces are good and come in a perfect prices for college students like us.

I never had the experience of shopping for furniture before, and I’ve got to tell you it is so exhausting. We spent more than three hours at the new huge IKEA store in Riyadh, and we still need to do more shopping. The good thing about the apartment is that, unlike the students dorm at the university, I can customize it the way I want. I will be living here for another three years till I get my degree, and I’ll make sure to make it as good and comfortable as possible.