/* Fakhredin Blog: September 2006 */
Fakhredin Blog
The posts in this weblog are mainly about history, heritage, language, art, and culture of Persia (that is named Iran since 1934). Persia is, therefore, equal to Iran, and Persian is equal to Iranian. Note that Persian is a nationality not an ethnicity. Pars (or Fars) is the major ethnicity in Persia but there are also Persian Kurds or Arabs. Similarly, the official language in Persia is Persian (Farsi is the local name and may not be used internationally). For more details please read my posts.

Monday, September 25, 2006
  BBC Radio 4: Uncovering Iran [Persia]
* Also available in Persian language
Since mid September, BBC Radio 4 started a season of programmes aimed at challenging some of the perceptions still held about Persia. It is interesting to have a look at the homepage of this programme. It covers many topics from ancient to contemporary history, social matters, food programme, etcetera. The webpage also contains some interesting links. You may like to read the article "Uncovering Iran's [Persia's] ancient past" related to this radio programme.

One of the discussed issues about contemporary history is about a letter from the Persian government to the US government in 2003. The programme "Mixed Messages and Secret Diplomacy" broadcasted this morning (Monday 25 Sep 2006). You can read a summary of that radio program in this article: "Missed chances?" Here is a part of it:

The US and Iran [Persia] almost never speak to each other ... [but a] potential opening came in May 2003 [at the time of Khatami's presidency].

America's swift march to Baghdad the previous month had led to fears in Tehran that it would be next. So Tehran made a dramatic - but surprisingly little known - approach to the Americans.
...
[In that offer, they] appeared willing to put everything on the table - including being completely open about its nuclear programme, helping to stabilise Iraq, ending its support for Palestinian militant groups and help in disarming Hezbollah. What did Iran [Persia] want [in return]? Top of the list was a halt in US hostile behaviour and a statement that "Iran [Persia] did not belong to 'the axis of evil'". The letter was the product of an internal debate inside Tehran and had the support of leaders at the highest level.
...
But in Washington, the letter was ignored. Larry Wilkerson, who was then chief of staff to US Secretary of State Colin Powell, thinks that was a big mistake. "In my mind it was one of those things you throw up in the air and say I can't believe we did this." He says the hardliners who stood against dialogue had a memorable refrain. ... "Why talk ... when you could simply dictate terms from a position of strength?"


Soon after that, the government in Persia changed. This was indeed "one of those things you throw up in the air and say I can't believe we did this!"

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Thursday, September 21, 2006
  Bill Gates versus Steve Jobs
* Also available in Persian language
Before I start the section Fakhredin Blog Webrambles (you can now find it at the right side of the page), I used to save interesting links that I found without categorizing them. Today, in the middle of hundreds of those unsorted link archive, I saw this one from BBC: "Bill Gates versus Steve Jobs." Bill Gates is the chief of Microsoft, and Steve Jobs is the chief of Apple and Pixar film animation studio. The interesting thing is that they have the same age! They are both 51 years old!

I became interested in the discussion about Mac versus PC, when I started using Apple a few month ago. If you ask me I say that a Mac is much much better than a PC. Not only the design of all Mac computers and accessories is beautiful, they also work much more smoothly.

Here is what BBC said about Bill and Steve:

Steve Jobs
Born in 1955
Chief executive of Apple and Pixar film animation studio
Wealth estimated at $2bn
  1. Steve Jobs was born in 1955 in the area now known as Silicon Valley.
  2. Adopted in his infancy, as an adult he traced his biological sister, the novelist Mona Simpson.
  3. He ran his first business from a garage with his friend Steve Wozniak.
  4. He built his business on delivering a user-friendly personal computer for ordinary people.
  5. He named the Apple Corporation after his favourite fruit.
  6. Forced out of Apple in the mid 80s, he was brought back a decade later to salvage its fortunes.
  7. Apple became the largest Internet music business earlier this year, selling 10 million tunes in four months.
  8. He built up the Pixar computer animation studio which has made films including Finding Nemo, A Bug's Life and the Toy Story films
  9. The philosophy of one of the characters in "A Bug's Life" mirrors Jobs' own motivation to "make a difference".
  10. 10. He is a vegetarian, as is his wife Laurene whom he married in 1991.
Bill Gates
Born in 1955
Chief Software Architect at Microsoft
Wealth estimated at $40bn
  1. Bill Gates had sold his first programme by the age of 17. His school paid him $4,200 for a programme on time-tabling.
  2. He dropped out of Harvard to concentrate on his business.
  3. Bill Gates co-founded Microsoft in 1975 and served as Chief Executive Officer until 2000.
  4. The secret of Microsoft's wealth was to license its software so that earnings rose in proportion to the number of users.
  5. He is currently working on the next generation of Microsoft software for Internet platform and services.
  6. He has donated many billions of dollars to charity through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
  7. A spoof Internet report that he had been shot dead knocked $3bn off the Korean stock market.
  8. His fortune was recently put at $40bn down from $100bn during the dot.com boom.
  9. Around 90% of the world's computers run on Microsoft's Windows software leading to complaints of anti-competitive tactics.
  10. E-mails from bill@microsoft.com sent to thousands of people this summer were fakes and carried a computer virus.

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Wednesday, September 06, 2006
  Fakhredin Blog Webrambles
* Also available in Persian language
Sometimes I read an article on a blog or a website and I come across some links to other blogs or websites. I click and read the next article, and the next link, and the next click, and the next ... and the next ... I name this: Webramble.
It happens that I spend hours doing so, and I visit some pages that I would not imagine to read them or see them at all. Many times I like to write about what I have read or what I have seen, but there is no time. Actually, most of those topics speak for themselves and I don't need to explain. That's why I decided to add a link group to the right side column, named: "Fakhredin Blog Webrambles." Whenever you visit my blog, keep an eye on the list of webrambles.

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Sunday, September 03, 2006
  From "Mathematics in Persia" to "Geometric Patterns in Islamic Art"
* Also available in Persian language
Have you ever heard of Al-Sijzi, the 10th century Persian mathematician? Or do you know that one of the world's analemmatic sundials is recently built in Rasht, Persia? I think you will like reading this post:

From 11 Sep 2006 through 15 Sep 2006, there is a workshop in Leiden University, the Netherlands, about Geometric Patterns in Islamic Art. Let me write a bit of background how this workshop came to existence. In spring 2006, the Seminar on History of Mathematics in Iran (Persia) was organized at the Department of Mathematics of the University of Leiden (Netherlands) by Dr. Jan P. Hogendijk (one of the coordinators of the current workshop). In that seminar, Jan Hogendijk also conducted a series of optional short classes on the Persian and Arabic alphabet and on Qur'an recitation.

On May 14, the eight ex-participants of the seminar made a trip to Persia, together with Prof. Dr. Remke Kruk (another coordinator of the current workshop) and Jan Hogendijk. They performed three workshops, together with Prof. Dr. Mohammad Bagheri (the third coordinator of the current workshop), during a conference on Mathematics and Art from May 16 - May 18, 2006, which took place in the House of Mathematics in Esfahan.

After the conference, some members left Esfahan and returned to the Netherlands. The remaining members of the group stayed for another week in Persia, and travelled to Yazd, Shiraz, and the province of Sistan and Baluchistan in South-Eastern Persia. In the cities of Zahedan and Zabol, a small international conference on ancient and medieval astronomy was organized by the astronomical society Mehbang. During that conference, an astrolabe workshop was conducted, and Jan Hogendijk held a lecture on the 10th-century mathematician al-Sijzi, who came from that province.

By the way, Mohammad Bagheri is the one who designed the analemmatic sundial in Rasht (also look at this link about the sundial in Rasht). You may also like to know that Jan Hogendijk and Mohammad Bagheri translated an interesting book from al-Sijzi:
Al-Sijzi, Ahmad ibn Muhammad, Treatise on Geometrical Problem Solving, ed. Bagheri, M., Hogendijk, J. Tehran: Fatemi Publications, 1996. Arabic text with Persian and English translations of a treatise on problem solving strategies in geometry, which resembles G. Polya's How to Solve It.

The workshop "Geometric Patterns in Islamic Art" is mentioned in an interesting article, "A heptagon from Esfahan," about mathematics and architecture in Persia. The article is published yesterday, 2 September, in a famous Dutch newspaper, NRC Handelsblad.

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Naqsh-i Jahan Square, Esfahan


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