Author Archives: manzoorulhassan

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About manzoorulhassan

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Overrate / Underrate . . . . .

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  • Overrated
    1. Common Sense – Most people, most of the time, overrate their “common sense” and based on the flawed “common sense” reach conclusions that are totally wrong. As bad as this part is, the worse part is the confidence level these people enjoy.
    2. Doing Something – Seems like if there is a problem, the thing to do is to attempt to do “something”, anything. Irrespective of the end result or the intermidiate cost.
    3. World Peace – Everyone says it but no one really means it. The closes thing that people do mean is – World Peace on their term(s).
    4. Honesty – Most people don’t want honesty, they want appreciation, accolade etc. Even if they don’t deserve it.
  • Underrated
    1. Routine – Getting stuff done in the proper time. Doing things at the proper time. These “may” seem too obvious, but they’re not.
    2. Patience –
    3. Ability – Than again people also under rate themselves and their abilities
    4. Blessings – Very few people

– manzoor

Politics, Election and the People

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The current situation (’04 US Presidential Election) is probably the worst we’ve seen in a while. For various reasons the whole nation is extremely divided and hostile towards the other side. I’m of course thinking of the conservative and the liberals, though there are other groups, these seem to be the 2 main camps.

President Bush is campaigning on social (abortion, gay marriage etc) and terror / security (9/11, homeland security) issues while Senator Kerry is going for the economic (job loss, social security, health care) issues.

Personally I don’t really believe the candidates are that different on the Terrorism / Homeland Security. I know that they have drastically different views on domestic issues (both social and economic). Also, to a great extent, their approach to Foreign Policy.

On the issues that I do see the candidates differ – I see a clear and distinct difference. Why then are there so many who are still (less than a week from election day) undecided? Do these voters not see the difference? Do they have other issues that are important that neither candidate is addressing? Are they not bombarded by the same amount of information (on TV, print media, Internet etc) as I? Or do they not believe / trust these information or the media that brings the information to them?

After the [in]famous 2000 election and at a time when the nation is so bitterly divided (not to mention when we need to be united, more then ever in recent history) – the last thing we need is to have a close election that half the nation does not trust. Whoever wins (and there will be “a” winner, even if the Courts have to decide it for us), I hope he wins with a wide enough margin so that the nation can finally come together, be united and move forward for our common good.

I do not expect the “best man for the job” to win (I never do – in any election). I do not believe that is the design of democracy.

– manzoor

On the Net . . . . .

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I have been “on the Net” for about 11+ years now. Like a lot of my fellow “netters” I too started with archie, gopher etc in the very begining. Then I slowly progressed to the Usenet (initially using rn and later upgrading to trn) and the WWW.

My very first post was probably to soc.culture.bangladesh. At least that’s what I am able to find by Googling for “Manzoorul Hassan” under “Google Groups”. The earliest article seems to have been posted July 1993. But I could have sworn my earlier postings were in all caps. I know, I know that’s NOT the polite way of posting. But at that time I didn’t know any better. On my terminal it (the all caps) was simply easier / better to see. But since I can’t seem to Google it, I’ll just believe that I am mistaken ;o)

While I was fairly active in the Usenet, I never got involved in the BBS (online chat) type activities and still have not quite got on the Instant Msg thing. I have finally gotten on the Blog thing (which I’m still fairly new at) and am really enjoying it.

In my most active days I used to read, and post to,

  • soc.culture.bangladesh
  • rec.travel.*
  • rec.video.*
  • austin.food (which I still am fairly active in)
  • rec.food.*
  • comp.os.linux.*
  • comp.os.os2.*
  • rec.sport.cricket
  • rec.sport.soccer
  • rec.sport.tennis
  • etc

I have finally picked blogging (technically I picked it back in late ’03, but haven’t really posted anything yet) and though I’m still a novice (you can tell from this, my very first, blog), I have a good feel for this.

– manzoor

Berry Strata

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Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup whole milk ricotta
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1/4 cup orange juice
  • 4 slices of bread, torn into 1-inch pieces (about 4 cups)
  • 1 (10-ounce) bag frozen mixed berries, thawed and drained

Directions

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Turn off the heat, add the honey, and stir to combine.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine the eggs, ricotta, and sugar. Using a fork, mix to combine and beat the eggs. Add the milk, orange juice, butter and honey mixture, and bread. Stir to combine. Gently fold in the berries.

Place the ingredients in a 10-inch round (2-quart) baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to 12 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the strata until golden on top and baked through, about 40 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Spoon into dishes and serve.

– manzoor

P.S. Saw the recipe on FoodTV and found it at http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/berry-strata-recipe/index.html
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