Most of you must have noticed keyboard protectors at your local computer accessories stores and the first question that pop-ups is whether these rubber-made sheets worth getting? In this post, I’ll put some insight on the pros and cons of using a keyboard protector.

Keyboard protectors are usually made up of special rubber-like material which is fully flexible and clear so that there is no complexity in typing neither the visual of keys. Manufacturers provide keyboard protectors in all sizes, so there is no limitation if you own a netbook, a desktop PC or any kind of MAC, you will even find free-size large rubber sheets which you can cut and adjust up to your requirement.

These days, computer resellers are providing an option for screen and keyboard protectors to their customers for add-on care to their machines. Here are some of the benefits you get instantly:

•  Keyboard protector is made up of special soft rubber-like material which provides a better typing experience. It feels great if you keep your nail short and even if you prefer typing with your nails.

•  It reduces and compresses the usual typing noise. Ultimate source if you use your computer in public places such as libraries.

• It does not let hair, any form of liquid and any unwanted substance to enter your keyboard. It always happens that you yourself or anyone around mistakenly pours something on your notebook and you get in serious anxiety mode, do not worry when you have placed a keyboard protector properly, you’ll see the liquid floating on the keyboard.

• It’s a total protection from dust. I don’t know about your region but where I live, sandstorms are everyday guests, no matter how much you protect your machines from dust, it still finds a way. Keyboard protector gives guarantee to keep your keyboard absolutely free of dust.

•  Great for smokers! It does not let the ashes enter the keyboard; make sure you don’t burn it though.

• Touch button panel? Not a problem, keyboard protectors are too light, it does not affect your finger gestures or touch effects.

• They are cheap to buy and great of the value!

• Some manufacturers also provide anti-bacterial and infection control material.

• And the best part; you don’t have to remove it once placed, just use soft cloth with some liquid cleaner and it’s all new again!

There are some very minor drawbacks:

• If your computer usage is very enormous, you might have to replace your keyboard protector after every few months if it starts losing its original shape.

• If you have mistakenly made a hole in it, it might not help in harsh environments such as dusty place or if you pour something on it.

• You might get addicted to the silent typing and cleanliness of the keyboard.

Feel free to comment and share your thoughts on keyboard protectors.

There are multiple levels of educational bodies in Riyadh which are either partnered or authorized by international universities and colleges. The educational bodies are blessing for those who are not willing to travel abroad and study, or those who are not eligible financially to do so. In fact, the activities held at university campuses cannot be held or provided by partner colleges in remote locations or partner colleges and institutes in different countries. Let’s focus on undergraduate programs, what happens is that these partner colleges and institutes hire teachers, at first who are not even eligible to teach bachelor level students, secondly they lack solid teaching techniques which a real professor from any university can offer, third, even if a student is nerdy, he/she will not gain much knowledge from the books which are provided or assigned to a specific module. From my personal experience, all the books which are provided in these institutes are either out of date or totally not related to the overall undergraduate program.

First year always passes easily because most of the modules are fundamentals with topics which students are already aware of from previous high school studies; second year becomes hectic due to large modules and very less knowledge on the topics being discussed, those students who can really survive the nervous breakdown are successful in passing the second year and those students who give up, usually leave the whole program saying that they cannot continue as it’s just waste of resources for them. Final year is the real game and main topic of this post, in final year only those students usually study who are really serious to get the program done and get the degree, but by the time they reach final year, things are harder than previous years, teachers might be there but they are not efficient enough for these students and their modules, somehow they cover the material assigned by the university but when it comes to the final year project, 99% of students don’t even know how to complete or even start that particular project which usually resides as 30 to 40% of your overall program grade, at this stage students are in great stress, they try their best to do things at their best but unfortunately no one succeeds this attempt because all these years they did not get that knowledge which is required to execute last year’s project, I’ll give you an example of well-known university here in Riyadh, final year students got a small project of developing a dynamic website and they are not studying software engineering!

Now you did not teach these students any of the web development languages whole 3 years and at the end you hire some guy who is a web developer and he teaches them the basics in 1 month and tell the university that you completed your part now it’s up to the students how they proceed. Holy Lord. Do you think students can really complete or even make that web development project? This is the great deficient in teaching techniques of regional educational bodies since many years, until today this problem is bold and administration is not bothered at all, after all it’s just business for them right? No libraries, no labs, no proper training and you expect good grades, universities keep giving authorization and partnerships to institutes because they also look at the profit part, it seems like everything is revolving only around money these days.

"Article by Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 FATIMA SIDIYA | ARAB NEWS 

Published: Jan 2, 2011 23:25 Updated: Jan 2, 2011 23:25

"JEDDAH: Online newspapers, blogs and forums will now need to register with the Ministry of Information and Culture for licenses to operate, according to new regulations that the ministry announced Saturday it is to introduce.

The new system, which will be introduced in a month’s time, has been discussed by online newspapers and bloggers who say the attempt to regulate online media in the same way that the Kingdom’s print publications are regulated is not workable.

The regulations also specify punishments in case of violations. These include the obligatory publishing of corrections, fines and bans for various time periods, including total bans. Applicants for licenses need to be Saudi, no less than 20 years of age, have high school certificates in the least and documents testifying to their good behavior. Online newspapers also need to employ editors in chief who have been approved by the Ministry of Information and Culture.

Abdul Aziz Khoja, minister of information and culture, said that the system is “in line with the development moves that the media sector is witnessing.” He added that the rules do not include any clauses restricting freedom of speech and that the ministry is eager to ensure there is transparency. He also said that the rules will be made open to improvement in the future.

Turki Al-Rougi, editor in chief of Al-Wiaam Online newspaper, said that the rules are welcome as they specify a particular government department that will be in charge of online media. He, however, added that there is fear that the regulations might be misused to restrict freedom of speech.

Al-Rougi said the Ministry of Information and Culture wants to implement the rules governing the print media on Internet websites and that this is not workable. He added that the drawbacks of the system will be discussed with the ministry at a seminar that is to be held on Monday at the Riyadh Literary Club.

“The fines could be as high as SR100,000 and SR50,000. The owners of websites simply cannot afford them as they are individuals unlike the print publications which are owned by establishments and businessmen,” said Al-Rougi, adding that the new system neglects mentioning visitors to websites.

Trad Al-Asmari, who blogs about poverty, unemployment and social justice in the Kingdom at alasmari.wordpress.com, said the system will remain “ink on paper” because it is “not applicable.”

“There are already contradictions in the system. It says that the person needs to have a license for his website and at the same time the person is actually applying for a license,” said Al-Asmari who won an award — “Reporters Without Borders, freedom of expression” — for his blog.

He added that the system would work for online newspapers but not for blogs, forums or Twitter. He also wondered whether it would be a requirement to ask the Ministry of Information and Culture for permission to post on Twitter or Facebook.

“What we hoped for is a chance for the media to obtain a self-controlled system not that of a government one,” he said.

© 2010 Arab News"

So guys? What do you say about this new law now?

Let's start with a great quote by Tom Peters, “If a window of opportunity appears, don’t pull down the shade.”

When you get an oppurtunity, you don't really have to let it go, that's what every wise person will advice you. A great king always hears to what the advisors have to say but he only decides and does what his own heart agrees on. So, again, I missed an oppurtunity to grow myself professionally, it was a job offer with few advantages and few disadvantages, I'm not discussing those right now, but just wanted to throw it out that I'm really sad about it that I rejected a great offer. I always decided about my job on one principle and that is, I make a rough sketch in my mind about what I've planned for next 12 months and what are the current situation, and how things can change. I've to leave for further education and that is the reason that I've to sacrifice another great oppurtunity, I hope I'll get same oppurtunities once I'm ready to 'only' work. And definitely I can't sit on the same chair rusting my head off. It's always good to work where you learn and keep your knowledge polished through out, everyone should make sure that they learn something new each day, a day of just 24 hours, seriously if you start calculating, life really seems too short, that's why it's good to stay ultimately busy in so many things that you never get time to calculate life, but again I would say, everyone of us should learn something new each day and help people with our expertise and knowledge. Blah, this post was just a random thrust of emotions. I hope things get better.

Following is the discussion made on my friend, Lamia's blog post.

Excellent post. Well, I'm not sure what Public sector can learn from Private sector but to tell you the truth, every organization whether it's connected to multiple other organizations or an individual enterprise with set of employee units in itself, inner-political issues never decrease. It's not about just the Moroccan agency you work for, it's almost same every where around the world. I've worked in multinational firms and organizational politics is the biggest issue, if you visualize a broader view of how everything is connected to organizational politics, it is the main aspect of all the things you listed, and it gets harder and harder when the number of employees are really big. Official work environment should neither be too formal and neither me too friendly, it should lay somewhere in between.

There's an issue in private sector I would like to highlight here; as you mentioned that every individual gets a different idea, organizational structures (administration etc.) doesn't usually allow individuals to grow and share their knowledge, creativity or ideas with their organization, reasons could be many, financial issues, political issues, personal matters so and forth. That's why every organization must have a global white board policy, let's say for instance; a big white board on which every individual can write up their ideas and at the end of the day there can be some kind of quick review of the creative ideas shared.

And regarding collaboration, collaboration platforms, intranets and all the software application, ERPs, knowledge based systems, DSSs etc. depend on few of the following aspects:

1. A specialized team who would study, audit, and then issue an official statement regarding the benefits of a particular software application, instead of blinding buying ERP solution from a cousin or a friend's friend, moral relationships should stay away in such decisions, because you work in governmental agency, I know this thing happens a lot, that if one department's manager is from family A, he will hire all the people from family A. Happens a lot. This should be completely eliminated from our systems, as long as they hire only those who are eligible for the job description.

2. Finance. If financially an organization has no issues, then everyone will think of their personal benefits as mention in point 1. Thus finance department or purchase department should outsource the inspection of selected software application to another audit firm or hire someone totally not in mutual connection with the team mentioned in point 1.

3. Knowledge workers (whom in my language I call, the end-users), the knowledge workers are the real people who would actually interact with the system being developed or bought. Thus it is solely important that they are kept on highest priority and they are being indulge in selection of the proprietary software buying or development.

4. The highest management. At the end of the day, whatever the higher management wishes, only that happens. The owners or the upper most administration authority should personally check what's going on at the lower end. And everything should be monitored properly.

Technology & time can never stop, they're increasing at the highest pace of life possible on this planet. Thus it's also important to take care of what things are beneficial and what things are not, creating a defective robot can screw up your own workshop.

Good posts Lamia! I love the way you express your thoughts. One of my favorite blogs!

P.S. I'm sorry if anyone is feeling offensive regarding this comment. These are just my way of looking at things. Cheers.

Further Discussion:

It was a pleasure, thanks for your kind words. If you analyze any random company who is on national level, you'll see there are many procedures which are totally not required but they exist due to human psychic. Transparency is a serious issue with all of us, right now we're talking about our work places, this really reflect the higher level situation of countries, when one employee is lazy and not motivated, he says, "Oh man, relax, everything is ok, I'm getting paid at the end of this month & work is all same as it used to be." Now this employee doesn't need any change in the company. I'll give you my own example, I worked in one of the biggest real estate company for an year, you know it, when I resigned, the first thing company's CEO asked me was, "What went wrong? We pay you on time, we'll pay you more, we'll provide everything you need, just don't leave the company like this." And I replied with another question, "Sir, it's been one year since I joined this company, company neither went further, neither went back, it's still in a vacuum, I can't stay in this company anymore, my brain is rusting, thus it's my personal decision that I should leave." Of course they got surprised when he had to repeat my words in the board meeting, regardless of the talk, my point is, that me and you, we think that collaboration is important as much as other things in an organization, but do others care about it equally? No. Majority doesn't care.

I would like to tell you something I always believed on Lamia; we're living in communication era, where 140 characters can speak louder than any voice on this planet, only that person is successful, who love team work, who asks for collaboration between teams, who asks for enough transparency, if I make you sit on a high position in a company where no one bothers to help you or work with you, you'll get sick of that place, even if you're getting too much money.

Regarding procedures, every company should upgrade their working procedures, procedure calls, I say it should be done every month or at least every 6 month if the organization is too big. Upgrading and polishing your work procedure is very effective. I'll give you an example here, there's a company where there are many departments, some departments work individually and some need collaboration with other departments to produce the end results. Sales guy get's interactive with the client, client defines his issues or requirements, sales guy come back to Pre-Sales Engineer and discuss the issues, Pre-Sales then place a short mock-up meeting with Division Manager and rest of the team, then they finalize their offer, after 72 hours, Pre-Sales talk to the Sales person, Sales person talks to the client. Long procedure? 72 hours is a fail?

Now this is how you enhance your procedures; instead of keeping Pre-Sales and Sales guys separate, place them in the same work space where Division Manager sits, IPT solution? CRM? Accounting? Great! Sales guy use the CRM, Pre-Sales look at the CRM in real time, Manager sees it too, Manager recommends, Pre-Sales & Sales understand the situation, offer is made at the same time in maximum 2 hours the proposal is sent to the client and a call is also made for further discussion.

See? 72 hours and 2 hours have almost 70 hours of difference. In one minute anything can happen and you're working in a 72 hours work procedure.

So, my point is, everything depends on the people! People work together and achieve better! Proper use of technology is super-effective!

- Faisal Asif

• Don't indulge yourself in gossips related to work or colleagues, just change the topic if you're stuck.
• Document everything, get official approvals for each thing you do, picking up a screw & keeping it in your drawer? Document it and approve from your manager right away!
• Make a report everyday, type in what you do as soon you're done with it. Done something partial? No worries, just type it in the same report. Your report should be managed in a way that if checked, it should show all months, and all weeks, and of course days and what you did each day.
• Do you trust someone? No. That's wrong. Don't even trust your good friend when you work at the same place.
• Look at everyone as company's employee, your Chairman or CEO is a person, not some super power, never freak out if higher management ask you questions.
• Never lie and be straight forward. You can't work on something? Say I cannot! Instead of lying and getting stuck with it.
• Keep smile on your face all the time. That scares everyone.
• You can never grow yourself in a company, you can only grow financially. So be smart. Either leave the place after working for few months or ask for more financial support or services!
• No one is like you. No one has experience like you. So relax, don't die if someone tell you that whatever experience you got is of no use. Of course you can give a hard punch on his nose, but ethics, just smile, agree and say, "yeah man, you know better" (that will back-fire). 

Cheer up. Life is short. No one knows what will happen tomorrow. So live every second of this life with grace. Happy Life!