Iyad Marzouka

Why Does The Earth Spin?!?

2008-08-29T00:09:00.000-07:00

So I sent Why? Tell Me Why! news series on Discovery channel an email asking "Why does the earth spin?!?" And I got my answer straight from NASA :D

This question has been on my mind for quite a while and every time I ask it I get a different answer. I mean we all know that the earth spins, but has anyone ever asked Why?!

Here is the link to the video response I got! Now I can sleep peacefully..

Click here to watch the video

You can email the show at WhyTellMeWhy@discovery.com with your question and hopefully you'll get an answer from the right people.

Meet Spike..

2008-08-25T01:21:00.000-07:00

Meet Spike.. My second LEGO Mindstorms NXT creation..

Spike is a living robotic scorpion. It crawls on six legs driven by two motors. It has an ultrasonic sensor so it can detect objects in front of it. A sound sensor to detect surrounding sounds. A stinger so it can attack approaching prey (me!!).

It tries to avoid objects in front of it.. but if you came too close, it will sting!!

Introducing Scrolli.com

2008-08-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

Finally!! After months of development, Scrolli.com came to life.

Scrolli is a website for sharing cool and funny images with others. You can upload, rate and comment on images with an extremely user friendly interface. What really differentiates it from other similar websites, is that you won't have to log in to use it. Full functionality is open for everyone.

The idea was developed long time ago by my great friend David Thulin (the idea guy) and I was in charge of the coding part.

The name "Scrolli" comes from a cool new feature that I have developed. I call it "Infinite Scrolling". As you may notice when you visit the website, there are no next and previous buttons. You just have to scroll down and more images will appear at the bottom of the page. I just love it!! :)

Another cool feature, if you have a boss around you all the time, is the "Boss Key". Just press Ctrl+Shift+X and the page will display a 404 Page not found error. When the boss leaves, press the same key combination again to get back to the page you were viewing.

Check it out.. Upload something.. Spread the world about it.. but do not SPAM!! :P

Your feedback is much appreciated. If you have an idea of a nice cool feature that you think should be there, please send it in.

Happy Sharing :)

A hole in my hand

2008-08-04T23:26:00.000-07:00

I just completed a training course in Adobe Premier Pro CS3 at lynda.com and I was experimenting with the chroma key effect and this is what I did.. Cool!! isn't it?!

Seeing in 3D without 3D glasses

2008-07-22T01:41:00.000-07:00

I am sure you had those red/blue 3d glasses () when you were a kid. You might still have them around!!

But have you ever thought that it would be possible to see in 3d without using any glasses?

Let me first explain how 3d photos are taken. 3d photos are basically a pair of 2d images presented in a way that each eye sees a different perspective of the same object creating the illusion of depth in the image.

Usually the image pair is taken using a special camera that has two lenses, separated by a small margin of about 2.5 inches, which is the distance between the viewer's eyes. The result is a pair of images of the same target taken from different perspectives (left eye/right eye). The image pair can also be taken using a single camera with a single lens by taking two shots of the same subject and moving your camera 2.5 inches between the two shots. Remember that this technique only works with non-moving subjects.

So let's get started with the fun stuff!! How to see in 3d without the glasses!!

First, let's take a look at the following stereo pair:

Photograph by Neil Creek

(Click on the image above to view in full resolution)

The image on the left represents the right eye view and the image on the right represents the left eye view. The technique I'm going to explain now is called "crossed-eye" viewing technique.

Open the image in full resolution and follow these steps to see the image in 3d:

Sit directly facing your monitor at about an arm distance keeping the stereo pair in the center of your view.
Slowly cross your eyes. You will see a blurred vision of the stereo pair.
Keep crossing your eyes more and more until you see three frames.
When you see three frames, try to focus your eyes on the one in the middle till a clear 3d model pops out.

Here is an animation of how things should appear when you cross your eyes.

Photograph by Neil Creek

(Click on the image above to view in full resolution)

It might take some time to master this technique. If it doesn't work from the first time, try again and again. It's really worth the experience!!

I have taken this stereo pair myself using a single camera. Give it a try!

(Click on the image above to view in full resolution)

For more great info about how to see and create 3d photos check out Neil Creek's blog here.

For more great stereo pair images check out this Flickr image set also by Neil Creek.

My favorites are this one and this one.

Experimenting with Anti-gravity

2008-06-09T06:36:00.000-07:00

I bought this science toy last month and I couldn't stop playing with it!! It's called the Levitron. The base is a huge permanent magnet that repels the spinning top to surf on the magnetic waves. If you spin it well, it will stay levitated for 5 minutes or more. Amazing toy!!

If you want to learn more about the physics behind it, visit this FAQ.

Going on a Diet

2008-06-08T05:52:00.000-07:00

After reaching a body weight of 105 kg!! I finally decided to lose some weight. I will be following the Atkins diet for the first month, for accelerated loss, then I will move to a simple low calorie diet.

I have created a simple Excel sheet to track my progress. I will be logging my weight, fat percentage and BMI daily in this sheet. I will be using the Omron Fat Loss Monitor to measure the fat percentage and the BMI first thing in the morning.

I will also be taking a daily photograph of myself for the following months. I will post the resulting transformation (if that happens!!) in a couple of months.

If you decide to join me, you can download the excel sheet here then drop me a line so we can compare results.

To track my progress download the excel sheet. I will update it daily.

Wish me good luck :)

Update (Sept. 3, 2008): I have failed to achieve my goal.. and I have gained more weight since I wrote this post.. Will revisit later..

Origami Star

2008-06-04T03:34:00.000-07:00

After 5 hours of paper folding.. this 5 intersecting tetrahedra origami came to life. It's not so perfect but I think it's very good for a first origami experience. It's a little bit boring and gets very complicated at the end but it's worth some time.

I simply followed the steps in this youtube video and this website. If you have 5 hours of free time, why not make one yourself!

My LEGO Mindstorms NXT Robot

2008-05-24T14:39:00.000-07:00

Meet TriBot. My first LEGO Mindstorms NXT robot. When you place a ball in front of it, it will move forward till it touches it. When you clap, it will lift the ball and run in the opposite direction till it steps over the start line and then it drops the ball.

It has an ultrasonic sensor so it can detect objects in front of it. Three servo motors, two for the wheels and one for controlling the arms (open/close). A touch sensor so it can stop when it hits something. A sound sensor to detect the clap. And a light sensor to detect the black start line.

This robot is illustrated step by step in the LEGO manual. It's basically a demo for all the sensors that you can have in NXT.

Great toy!! Never thought I would play with LEGO again. :)

Geocaching in Jordan

2008-05-20T06:19:00.000-07:00

So I finally got a GPS unit. The Garmin GPS 60. It's a basic handheld GPS device with cool features. It does not support maps, but we have no maps of Jordan anyway.

If you are unfamiliar with geocaching, it is a new sport played by many GPS users worldwide. Basically, it's like a treasure hunt. You are given the coordinates to a hidden cache somewhere. And you use your GPS device to get to that location. Once you get there, you should search for the hidden cache (That's the tough point). You open the cache, take something and leave something. You also need to write your name and date in the log book inside the cache.

So first I created an account at geocaching.com and I searched for a cache near my house. I found one 10 km away. Downloaded the waypoint coordinates to my GPS device and hopped in the car with my friend. Turned on the GPS and started following the arrow to the destination. We drove on-road and off-road to get to that point. Good thing my Civic could handle it.

Once we got to the nearest point, we were 100 meters away and we had to climb a rocky mountain to get to the cache. Climbing was so hard but finding the cache was the hardest. After searching for more than one hour, we found the cache hidden in a small cave under some rocks. It was a great moment of achievement. :)

We found a Travel Bug tied to a keychain and a coin. We took the travel bug and put "Something else" there. Want to know what is it? Go geocaching!! It's so much fun :)

Check out the official website: http://www.geocaching.com/

Cool Dragon Illusion

2008-05-04T23:55:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon a great website that I want to share. This is a great optical illusion that you can DIY by printing it out, cutting it and taping it. When you move around, the dragon will give a great illusion effect that its head is following you.

This is a link to the PDF file so you can print it out on an A4 paper: Download

The birth of the LED Calculator (http://ledcalculator.net)

2008-05-04T22:55:00.000-07:00

About a month ago I was working on very interesting project. A multi-touch display based on the NUI Group design and the Touchlib open source library. I had to build an IR LED array as documented in the building process.

I wanted to wire 40 IR LEDs in series/parallel to make that work. Any LED circuit should have resistors to limit the current going through the LEDs. So I searched online for a calculator that would do the design for me and determine the resistor values. I came across many calculators but I was annoyed by the old fashioned web design which has been there for years.

And so.. I decided to build my own using ASP.NET AJAX

Check it out at: http://ledcalculator.net/

Hello World

2008-05-01T01:39:00.001-07:00

Ok, I finally decided to start blogging. :)

This is a brief introduction about me and what I will be blogging about.

My name is Iyad Marzouka and I've been working in software development for 8 years now. I have many hobbies beside that. I'm also a guitarist and I love to play with electronics. I will be blogging about the websites that I have created, issues in coding, my robots, electronic projects and many other exciting stuff.

I hope you will enjoy reading my blog and please feel free to contact me about anything.