Author: lallouslab

My name is Elias aka lallous and I am a computer scientist and a seeker of ultimate truth and human potential
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Adults: No Christmas gifts for you

xmas-giftTonight is Christmas Eve and everyone is asking me if I finished my Christmas shopping and whether I bought gifts and what not.

I did buy a couple of gifts for kids (through a giving program) and I also donated some of my time to charity during this time of the year to help prepare breakfast for the homeless. So I gladly done my share of giving.

However, this is the first year where I do not buy any gifts for adults: my siblings, relatives and friends. When I tell this to others they feel shocked, as if I committed a grave sin!

So let me explain my philosophy, and I repeat it is pertains to adults and not kids. Kids do not have their own money and any toy or gift will bring joy to their hearts. Continue reading “Adults: No Christmas gifts for you”

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No Avocado for you! Come back one year!

no avocado for you

I was in Vancouver, BC during a short weekend visit to discover and explore the city. The sun usually sets around 4:30PM this time of year.

I arrived Saturday and I checked in into my hotel room at 4PM, grabbed my umbrella and started walking around.

I wanted to walk in downtown and see much of the streets, the people and various attractions.

I tell you, the city looked vibrant and full of young people. There were lots of Asians as well. For a second I forgot I was in Canada (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

So, basically for me, the biggest “attraction” or the highlight of my exploration on Saturday night was the sheer amount of homeless people asking for money and lying on the streets.

Continue reading “No Avocado for you! Come back one year!”

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Sleeping tips – Basic Sleep Hygiene

This is a multi-part short article about sleeping tips to help you improve your sleep.

Basic sleep hygiene

Like you have food hygiene principles, there are also a set of sleep hygiene principles that can help you get a good night’s sleep:
sleep-1

  • Slow down your mind: do relaxing activities before going to bed, do not keep on working and then abruptly try to go to sleep. Your mind will keep on “rolling” and will take the problems with it. Slow your mind down before going to sleep.
  • Don’t feast at night: Unless you want to watch lots of action dreams or nightmares, do not eat heavy meals before going to sleep! You don’t want to make your body busy digesting. You want to have your body rejuvenate itself.
  • Avoid bright lights: Don’t stare at bright screens too long before going to sleep (like your phone or tablet). Instead, read a physical book or if you have to, use a dimly lit e-ink based reader like Amazon’s Kindle Paperwhite.
  • Avoid caffeine at least a couple of hours before going to sleep: to some, drinking caffeine will not help them fall asleep fast or soundly at night.
  • Your bedroom is for sleeping only: while you can do other “stuff” in your bedroom, keep unpleasant and distracting activities outside the bedroom essentially. No computers, eating, playing with your electronic devices all night long, etc…
  • Organized sleeping time: your body loves order and routine (same like your mind loves patterns). Make a habit to sleep no longer than 10PM each night and learn how to wake up naturally without an alarm.

…and the list goes on, but you get the idea.

Now you may ask “What if I still cannot fall asleep?”

The answer to this is a topic for another blog post in this series. However, if there is something I learned during my quest for better sleep is the fact that if you are in bed, tossing around and around not able to sleep then don’t stress about it! Accept that fact and relax until you eventually lose consciousness and drift into sleep.

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The Allegory of Youth

The following art piece displayed at The Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas.

It is called “The Allegory of Youth”, By Domenico Piola.

allegory of youth

Allegory of Youth, circa 1680
By Domenico Piola — Genoa, 1627-1703
Oil on canvas
The Suida-Maning Colection, 467.1999

In its undulating rhythms, multi-colored modeling, and softly modulated light, this painting exemplifies Piola’s mature style.

This picture of a beautiful young woman and an aged winged man holding an hourglass and scythe suggests a common Baroque allegory, Time revealing Truth.
In fact, the explicit vanity of the woman, caught plaiting her hair, echoed by the mirror, and the futile gesture of the little boy as well as the frailty of the proffered flower, shift the meaning to the fleeting nature of physical beauty.

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Homeless Jesus

I was walking in downtown San Antonio  near St. Mary’s street and I found this beautiful statue:

homeless jesus

The statue had a sign above it reading:

“Homeless Jesus”

By Sculptor Timothy P. Schmalz, 2015

“In Truth I tell you in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me”.
— Matthew 25:40

Honoring:
The Missionary Oblates of Mary
Immaculate & The People of St. Mary’s Catholic Church

Given By:
Edward and Linda Speed Whose Family have been members for over 100 years.

In this day and age, we need to remember our fellow humans and try to help them as much as possible. Such a statue, right in downtown San Antonio is such a reminder. If God blessed us with many gifts, the least we can do (apart from being grateful), is to share our blessings with others.

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The Earth does not belong to man!

I was once visiting Paul Cheoketen Wagner‘s house to listen to him play live Native American flute.

I have to say that Native Americans always fascinate me with their connection to Mother Earth and the Spirit World. Anyway, on my way out after the event, I saw those beautiful words of wisdom framed on the wall:

chief-seattle-1The Earth doesn’t belong to man.
Man belongs to the Earth.
All things are connected like the blood that unites one family.
All things are connected.
What ever befalls the Earth, befalls the sons of the Earth.
Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it.
Whatever he does to the web he also does to himself.

— Chief Seattle, 1854

Here’s the original quote as it was posted on the wall:
the earth does not belong to man

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The Wise Bedouin and his 50 children

One evening, I had the privilege to meet and dine with Yasser Akkaoui the managing director and editor in chief of the Executive Business Magazine.

During our dinner, I asked him:

Yasser, so with all the companies you run, responsibilities and family, how do you manage your time?

Yasser replied:

Let me answer you with a story I heard once. This is how I manage my business.

What follows is the story as shared by Yasser:

flower separator

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Bedouin/images-videos
Image courtesy of Britannica online encyclopedia

Once upon a time, in a small village in the desert, a wise Bedouin was living there and was known to have fathered 50 children.

His words of wisdom made him famous throughout the other villages and even his wisdom and reputation spread to tourists that were visiting other villages.

One Western reporter was intrigued by the stories he heard about him, so he decide to visit his village and ask him a difficult question and experience his wisdom firsthand. It was not easy for the reporter to come up with such a question, but after days of reflection, he thought he figured a hard question he could ask the Bedouin.

Continue reading “The Wise Bedouin and his 50 children”

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Testing on the Toilet

So, has your company started following you to the toilet as well? It seems the idea of “testing on the toilet”, where code snippets and sometimes code testing techniques are printed and attached on the toilet walls, was started by Google (please correct me if I am wrong).

I was surprised the other day to enter the toilet, only to find those one pagers with code testing techniques attached above the urinary gutters!

tot-2

It is one thing to want your employees to be productive and another thing to follow them to the toilet where they hope to have a moment of peace and quiet while they relief themselves!

What about number two you ask? Well, they follow you inside as well:

tot-1

Personally, I find that unacceptable. Instead, put some jokes, something a bit lighter and funny! 🙂

Do you agree?

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The seven chakras and spiritual dating

chakras

Introduction

After living in the West for 7 years now, I could not help but observe how the dating values are upside down from what I believe dating and how humans relationships should be.

Let me quickly explain how things run in the Western world: Two people meet, they go have sex on the first, second date, or third date then later (and perhaps) go through the efforts to really know about each other or just dump each other and start looking for a new sexual adventure all over again.

It seems it is a recurrent pattern where people these days rarely go through the trouble to know each other on a level deeper then the carnal and physical dimension. Instead, they first jump directly into the sexual phase with random strangers after a few drinks or just because they could not contain their animal instinct. Continue reading “The seven chakras and spiritual dating”

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Joke: I love you, sweetheart.

I received this joke by email. Although I was never married, I can see the responses ringing a bell by observing other married people I know 🙂

i-love-you-sweet-heartA group of women were at a seminar on how to live in a loving relationship with their husbands. The women were asked, “How many of you love your husband?” All the women raised their hands. 

Then they were asked, “When was the last time you told your husband you loved him?”

Some women answered ‘today’, a few ‘yesterday’, and some couldn’t remember.

The women were then told to take out their cell phones and text their husband:

“I love you, sweetheart.”
Next the women were instructed to exchange phones with another woman and read aloud the text message she received in response to her message.

Below are hilarious 11 replies. If you have been married for quite a while, you understand that these replies are a sign of true love….who else would reply in such a succinct and honest way? Continue reading “Joke: I love you, sweetheart.”