Blue Chi’s

In celebration of Oman3D’s second anniversary, we are having two new competitions simultaneously, one is exclusive to individuals resident in Oman and another to which anyone from anywhere in the world may qualify. Prizes include an iPod nano and 50 Omani Rials in cash. More info about both competitions could be found here.

I don’t think that I’ll be able to praise this book enough, I can’t think of any other book that made me think halfway through that it probably is the most enjoyable book I’ve ever read in my entire life. It is so funny, extremely personal and very meaningful in a cruel way.

jPod tells the story of several individuals working at a game developing company making a new skateboarding game for the PlayStation, the book focuses on the meaningless lives of immersed internet geeks, it describes various aspects of the modern pop culture including ebay, Google, spam, anime, videogames, the Simpsons, fast food, etc..

I’m not a book critic, but I loved this book to bits, I’m even tempted to read it once more, I loved the randomness of it, the fact that it made me laugh out loud as I read it, all the references to videogames, Japanese culture, the internet, and everything. If I was to state a book that described the way I thought, the media I consumed and the culture I experienced at the start of the 21st century it would nothing but jPod.

Link to review by Guardian.
Link to review by the Times.
Podcast interview with the author. (Direct link to MP3 file, 8Mbs).

This book was released in May 2006 in the US and June 2006 in the UK, it might not be available yet in stores around the Gulf.

I’ve recently gone back to my books, I finished reading this book today, it’s a hilarious novel told as a collection of emails sent over a whole year by a high executive in an international company. The book tells the story of Martin Lukes as he practices intra-company politics, interacts with his virtual life coach, cheats on his wife, etc..

I found this book while shopping around in a bookstore in the ‘Must-Read’ section of the bookstore, and I can’t agree more with that now that I finished it. This is a very a quick read, the book is less than 400 pages long and could be easily gotten into, it is not to be taken too seriously as it was all written in a spirit of satire. I really loved the storytelling, the book is a series of emails, from a first person perspective, you don’t even get to read the reply of the other person except at very rare circumstances. I think that Lucy Kellaway did a great job with Who Moved My Blackberry, I would recommend it to anyone looking for a humorous light read related to company or office life.

I have four novels that I am supposed to read and three technical books that need to be completed as well, however, my next book is most likely to be JPod.

I think that I should make an update about this: I graduated.

I’m back home now, the graduation ceremony was last Wednesday. I did not take a lot of photographs myself, I’m waiting for them to send me the photos taken by the official photographer, those should arrive within four to six months they said.

How does it feel now that I am done with it? I think that it is a mixture of satisfaction, sadness that’s all over, and a lot of nothingness. I really enjoyed myself while I was studying in Cardiff, the place was awesome, I had a lot of fun with all the people that I met there. I’m really going to miss the lifestyle, to be able to simply walk to school, the freedom, the diversity of all the people around me.

I appreciate the fact that I had the opportunity to study at Cardiff University, the system in the Law school is awesome – the student has the opportunity to choose all the modules he studies in the his 2nd and 3rd years. I can’t say that I loved every single lecturer and teacher I had, but I can’t deny the fact that I did enjoy the overall experience.

Unlike a great number of university graduates, I am privileged for not having to go through the job-search stress, my scholarship requires me to work with the Ministry of Legal Affairs (MOLA). I am afraid to say that none of my friends is helping me get excited about it, I have no idea of how it is going to be, I am not sure if I am ready to start working yet or not, but it does not look like I have much of a choice. I came back yesterday and told my family that I will not call MOLA and that I’ll wait for them to call me instead – and less than 24 hours passed before they actually did… They called my father this morning asking him about me and whether I finished or not, they asked if I had any proof that I graduated and that I should start with the employment procedures as soon as possible as those could take a very long time to be completed.

I do not have my certificate yet, and I don’t actually have anything on my that proves I graduated. I know the cultural attache’ in the UK has a copy of my initial transcript for the final year results which should state that I completed the degree. I am not sure if I should tell them about this now.

In the mean time, I am just trying to get used to the weather, it is just as they described it… very very hot.