How Did the Islam Conquer the World?

Arabia is mostly made of desert, inhabited mainly by nomad tribes during the 7th century. On the shores of the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, fertile areas with many flourishing settlements were found, but the products were mainly local. The trade roads led to Syria and Mesopotamia (Iraq). Prosperous oases were found on the commercial routes, like Mecca and Medina, and the agriculture in the arid areas was possible using waterwheels and irrigation ditches. The kingdom of Sheba, in Yemen, was signaled even from the Bible and maintained trade contacts with eastern Africa, Ethiopia, Egypt, Persia and the Greeks.

During the Christian era, many Arab areas received influences from the heretic Nestorian and Monophysite churches. Each tribe was independent and led by a sheik. This mosaic of nations knew unity only in limited occasions, like after the intervention of an Ethiopian Christian king, who found about the religious persecution triggered by Himyarite king (in southern Arabia), who had converted to the Mosaic religion. The campaigns of the Sassanid Persians agglutinated sometimes the tribes as well.

But the definitive unity and expansion came with the Islam. The prophet Muhammad was born in Mecca, son of a camel herder, in 571. He lost both parents when young and was looked after by an uncle. By the age of 25, in 596, he accompanied camel caravans and married his mistress, already twice widow, Khadijah. Muhammad traveled alone a lot through the mountains and after his marriage, around 610, he experienced an odd incident. He had visions in which he spoke to Archangel Gabriel, marking down his instructions in verses. These writings make the first part of the holy book of the Islam, the Koran. The final book comprises 122 percepts received by the prophet in 22 years.

Meanwhile, Muhammad started to preach, claiming that there was only one way for salvation: total obedience to the mighty God. This is the meaning of the word "Islam" in
Arabic. The adepts of Islam were Muslims – "submissive, indulgent".

Muhammad founded a religious community made of his few disciples and his family members, but it was not popular in the city. The welfare of the city of Mecca was due especially to the pilgrims coming for worship at the Kaaba stone, a sanctuary dedicated to a number of about 360 gods and spirits. But the new prophet stated that any god or spirit was false, and the situation turned so dangerous that Muhammad and his disciples had to leave the city in 622. This displacement was called Hidjra and it is considered the start of the Islamic period.

Muhammad found shelter in the nearby city of Medina where he turned into an important man, being a judge. He was acknowledged to be the prophet of Allah and leader of the city against its numerous military campaigns of Mecca. When Mecca surrounded in 630, Muhammad destroyed the 360 idols and offered Kaaba to Allah.

Muslims have to pray 5 times a day. In the cities, the call to prayer is made by the muezzin from the top of the mosque's tower. In that moment, craftsmen, traders or farmers, have to cease their activity, put on the ground a small carpet to kneel on and pray looking towards Mecca. No believer can die before visiting the Holy City of Muhammad. In other times, this meant months and years, during a dangerous voyage.

The Muslim man can have as many wives as he can take care of. Women are not authorized to maintain social contacts of any type. The harem is accessed only by the husband and the sons, and women cannot have public functions. Almost in all Islamic areas, the women have to wear a veil.

The Koran says that the Muslim who dies defending the Islam will go to paradise, being looked after by 72 beautiful virgins.

Until the death of the prophet in 632, almost all Arabia had turned to Islam. As Muhammad had not nominated a successor, conflicts emerged between his relatives, followed by revolts, rebellions and civil wars in the peninsula.

The conflict came to an end when a deal was made between the adepts of the prophet. A caliph (disciple, adept) took the succession and the Arabs started their conquests. The tribes that previously had fought one another were then united and troubled the two super-powers dominating the Middle East: the Greek Christian Byzantine Empire and Sassanid Zoroastrian Persia.

The first caliph was Muhammad's father-in-law Abu Bakr (632-632 AD) but the conquests started during the caliph Omar (634-644). In 635, he conquered Damask and in 636, the army chief Halid ibn-al-Walid destroyed the Byzantine Army in the battle of Yarmouk and drove it away from Syria. Then, the Muslims invaded Mesopotamia, dominated by Persia, and in 642 they occupied Persia and Alexandria (and with it, the whole Egypt). From Egypt, further campaigns conquered Northern Africa. Meanwhile, the Islamic Empire was weakened by the fight between the Arab tribes that formed different nations. The third caliph, Osman (644-656) was killed and its successor was chosen Muhammad’s cousin, Ali (656-661). The riots continued and Ali was killed. His disciples refused to obey the successor caliph, Muawiyah, and proclaimed autonomy. This was the definitive schism between the majority of Sunni Muslims and the Shi'a minority. Many sects appeared later, but this rupture was fundamental.

Ali's death ended the classic caliphate and Muawiyah (661-680) started ruling like a king from the Syrian capital, Damask. The title was to be inherited by the king’s son or a close relative and the rule was exerted with the help of a centralized social structure, which was not characteristic for the Arab states. Muawiyah founded the first dynasty of caliphs, Umayyad, but its power crystallized only after Abdal-Malik (685-705) gained the 30 years inner war. With the new order installed, the campaigns continued: Muslim forces went to Tashkent, conquered Sind and a part of Punjab (India) and, through the Gibraltar strait, entered Spain in 711, conquering it almost entirely. In 718, the Arabs crossed the Pyrenees Mountains, reaching central France where they were crashed by Franks, at Tours in 732. Further conquests in Europe were stopped.

Under the Umayyad dynasty, the Islamic Empire had reached its peak: trade could be made undisturbed from Spain to India. Unlike other conquerors, Arabs learned with pleasure from other nations, adopting their way of ruling the state, army organization and Byzantine and Persian navigation; they learned from the science and art of the subdued nations.

Usually, the Muslims were tolerant with the Non-Muslims, especially "The People of the Book" (Christians and Jews), with biblical traditions similar to theirs. The Islam considered Abraham and Moses real prophets, whose work was completed by Muhammad. Muslims were tax free, unlike the Non-Muslims. This was a motivation on long term for many people to convert to Islam. As Koran's translation to other languages was forbidden, many new adepts had to learn Arabic, so that the conquered people were easier assimilated. When this happened, an Arab was considered a person speaking the Arabic language and with the same religion and culture.

But the tolerance of the Umayyads meant the end of the dynasty. Many subjects considered they did not take care enough to convert the Non-Muslims. Religious discontent and riots of the Arabs from Iran and Mesopotamia, unhappy to be led from Damask, caused a big rebellion in 747, whose leader was Muhammad's descendant Abdul Abass. In 3 years, all the Umayyads were killed, except Abdar-Rahman, who took refuge in Spain, founding an autonomous dynasty that lasted 300 years.

The Abassid dynasty founded a new capital in Mesopotamia: Baghdad, which soon would have 1 million of inhabitants. Special interest was in the conversion to Islam and the adoption of the Arab languages. Only Persia kept its language, the Persian, and its cultural identity, but turned from Zoroastrian into Muslim.

This is the peak of Islamic culture. The caliph Al Mansur (712-775) founded "The Palace of the Knowledge" were savants could translate the works of the ancient Greek philosophers, studied ancient medicine, learned Indian mathematics (the numbers, invented by Indians, are known as Arabic numbers, because Arabs brought them to Europe). The Persian Ibn-Seena (Avicenna), a philosopher and medic, was famous even in Europe. Algebra is an Arab word, and Arab mathematicians founded this subject. Omar Hajjam (1048-1131) was a great Persian mathematician, astrologist and poet.

Literature and art flourished. Mosques and palaces adorned with colored ceramics were built. Arabesques reproduced plant and animal motifs, combined with lines of Arab writings. The collection of Asian stories called "The Book of One Thousand and One Nights" has become a classic one. Islamic science and culture pushed its contemporary Europe a few centuries forward. Western world took many of the Arab sources of science, philosophy, mathematics and medicine (even the method of paper making, invented by the Chinese, reached Europe through the Arabs).

But the huge empire was hard to control; a new dynasty arose in North Africa: the Fatimids (909-1171), who established their capital at Cairo.

In time, the political power of the Persians grew, and the Abassid caliphs turned into puppets of the Persian rulers. Things got even more complicated when the Turks, nomadic Mongoloid (at origin) tribes, coming from Central Asia, occupied most of the Islamic Near East, ruling it in the name of the Abassid caliphs, their leader being the sultan ("ruler") between 1055-1157. The Turks were skilled warriors and forced the Byzantines to ask for the help of Western Europe. This is how the Crusades started.

By the 12th century, the Caliphate was divided in small sultanates. But the Turks resisted and responded to Crusades. The caliphate was over when the Mongol hordes sacked Baghdad in 1258.

source : news.softpedia.com


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Sorry for the delayed post, i've been working for some IT project in a few weeks. Now, im here and ready to post and respon any of the IT news.
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Office 2007 vs. Office 2008 – Packagings

Office 2008 is the equivalent of the Office 2007 System, but a product designed exclusively for the Mac platform, and the Mac OS X operating system, unlike its alternative for Windows.
The Office 2007 System hit the shelves in January 2007, and Office 2008 for Mac will be made available in early 2008. Initially, Microsoft planned Office 2008 for Mac for the second half of 2007, but the company subsequently changed its tune, and now will follow the release of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard to the market. Still, the packagings for Office 2008 for Mac are already available for your viewing pleasure. At the top of this article you will be able to feast you eyes on the box for Office 2008 for Mac, while in the one at the bottom you can also see Office 2008 for Mac Home and Student and Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition.

No word yet from Microsoft on whether these are the real thing or just preliminary examples of design. However, since the boxes are featured on the Office 2008 for Mac official website, the move seems to indicate that the packagings are the versions that will hit the shelves. And in this regard, it can be commented that the boxes for Office 2008 for Mac are inferior in terms of design to those of Office 2007 or even to those of Office 2004 for Mac. Just compare the images included at the bottom of this article, and you will see the difference. However, in the end the box is simply a box. Microsoft will win Mac users with the contents and not with the packagings. But still, it does appear that there is a dissonance between what users will find inside, with the promise of an overhauled graphical user interface, and a rudimentary box design on the outside.

This is how Microsoft describes Office 2008 for Mac Home & Student Edition (1), Office 2008 for Mac (2) and Office 2008 Special Media Edition (3): "1 - Whether your projects are around the house or in the classroom, the reinvented Office 2008 for Mac experience makes it easier than ever to create professional-looking work. 2 - Easy-to-use, powerful tools make it easy to create fantastic looking documents—from dynamic presentations to stunning reports and engaging communications. 3 - For professionals working with libraries of images, video, music, and digital assets, we’ve combined the reinvented Office 2008 for Mac experience with Expression Media."

source: news.softpedia.com

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History Of Ajax

2005 will definitely be remembered as the rise of AJAX – the new development technique that many believe will blur the line between web-based and desktop applications. This mystical acronym, authored by Adaptive Path in mid February, is a label for the rich, highly responsive and interactive interfaces of AJAX-enabled applications. It stands for “Asynchronous JavaScript + XML”.

Although we are just beginning to realize its full potential, the proven success of famous AJAX-based projects like Google Maps signifies that this is not just another media hype, but rather a promising technology that may change web-applications as we know them.

The purpose of this article is to help developers understand the core concept of AJAX, realize its benefits and suitable application scenarios, and of course, become aware of its drawbacks.

You will learn about some of the most important AJAX implementations as well as about some of the leading development tools and components, which can help you jump-start your AJAX-enabled applications.

This document is aimed at ASP.NET developers, although anyone with a good knowledge of how the Internet works will gain a solid understanding of AJAX and its benefits.

The pursuit of a development technique like AJAX came from the need for making web applications much more usable and eliminating their key disadvantages in comparison with the desktop platform:

• Poor Interactivity – web applications require that users wait for full page reloads after each interaction with the server. During the loading time they have to stare at a blank screen, which tremendously disturbs the whole experience. Although broadband internet connections are becoming a standard, web applications are also becoming increasingly complex and "heavy" so the overall waiting time remains relatively the same.
• Unresponsiveness – classic web applications transfer the complete form data to the server, which in turn renders and sends back the full HTML markup of the page to the browser. This happens during each postback and in most cases is highly inefficient, since only a small part of the interface is actually changed. However, lots of bandwidth is consumed and the performance is significantly hindered. This leaves users with the idea that web applications are slow by nature. Even worse, the user will often find the page has scrolled to a different position, causing disorientation.
• Simplistic Interfaces – the requirement for full page postback whenever the user interface has to be changed imposes hefty limitations on the degree of sophistication of web user interfaces. Rich and smooth interfaces with on-demand update could only be implemented using Flash technology. This approach, however, is impractical for general use since it is very complex and requires a much different set of skills than those possessed by the typical web developer. It can also cause end-user issues as a plug-in is often required.
• Low Usability – if a web application reloads the whole page because the user made a new selection on a form, they will get confused. It is often the case that web applications work in a confusing and esoteric way because the web application has been built around the standard, simple view of the Internet protocols. ASP.NET meant we could build applications with more functionality more quickly, usability has a way to go yet.

AJAX was born with the idea to change all this and narrow the functional gap between the desktop and the web. The new generation of AJAX-enabled applications delivers close-to-instantaneous performance, rich interfaces and tremendously improved user experience. It opens new horizons for much closer interaction with the application and demonstrates in practice what was until recently considered impossible:

• Real-time map panning in Google Maps and Virtual Earth is just like image panning in Adobe® Photoshop®
• Folder browsing, message previewing, etc. in Microsoft® Outlook® Web Access is identical to that in the desktop version of Outlook.
• Validation checking on complex input fields can be performed by the server, without reloading the page.
• Virtual scrolling of huge tables with telerik r.a.d.grid is as fast as in Microsoft Excel®

What's interesting to know is that AJAX is not actually that new as a technology. It has been first used after Microsoft implemented Microsoft.XMLHTTP COM object that was part of The Microsoft® XML Parser distributive. As an ActiveX object in Internet Explorer 5, it was used to create the famous Outlook Web Access. You have probably seen AJAX in action for quite long in the MSDN Documentation treeview navigation. What is new actually is the name AJAX, which was widely accepted in 2005. Other labels for the same technology are Load on Demand, Asynchronous Requests, Callbacks, Out-of-band Calls, etc.

What's even more interesting is that AJAX is actually not a technology. It is more like a development technique that utilizes in a unique way a number of already mature technologies: HTML/XHTML, XML, DHTML, the XmlHttpRequest object, and JavaScript. For the purposes of simplicity we will refer to it as technology as it is widely accepted as such and provides a useful language to discuss the characteristics of the significant trend it represents.

How does AJAX work?

The core idea behind AJAX is to make the communication with the server asynchronous, so that data is transferred and processed in the background. As a result the user can continue working on the other parts of the page without interruption. In an AJAX-enabled application only the relevant page elements are updated, only when this is necessary.

In contrast, the traditional synchronous (postback-based) communication would require a full page reload every time data has to be transferred to/from the server. This leads to the following negative effects:

• The user interaction with the application is interrupted every time a server call is needed, since a postback has to be made.
• The user has to wait and look at blank screen during each postback.
• The full page is being rendered and transferred to the client after each postback, which is time consuming and traffic intensive.
• Any information entered by the user will be submitted to the server, perhaps prematurely.

The AJAX-enabled applications, on the other hand, rely on a new asynchronous method of communication between the client and the server. It is implemented as a JavaScript engine that is loaded on the client during the initial page load. From there on, this engine serves as a mediator that sends only relevant data to the server as XML and subsequently processes server response to update the relevant page elements.
Below is a diagram of the complete lifecycle of an AJAX-enabled web form.

1. Initial request by the browser – the user requests the particular URL.
2. The complete page is rendered by the server (along with the JavaScript AJAX engine) and sent to the client (HTML, CSS, JavaScript AJAX engine).
3. All subsequent requests to the server are initiated as function calls to the JavaScript engine.
4. The JavaScript engine then makes an XmlHttpRequest to the server.
5. The server processes the request and sends a response in XML format to the client (XML document). It contains the data only of the page elements that need to be changed. In most cases this data comprises just a fraction of the total page markup.
6. The AJAX engine processes the server response, updates the relevant page content or performs another operation with the new data received from the server. (HTML + CSS)

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Why I decided to use Visual Basic?

Most programmers prefer to program in a single language. But why have I decided to use Visual Basic? After all, isn’t C# now Microsoft’s preferred language? Quite the contrary: Visual Basic is now on equal footing to C++ and the new C#. In addition to this fact, I have chosen to use Visual Basic.NET for several reasons. Visual Basic is the most popular programming language in the world. It’s also by the far the most common language that existing ASP developers have used to create “classic” ASP pages. Finally, it’s the language that the I cut my teeth on—the language that we personally prefer to use.
One of the most common questions today is, “Why should I move to .NET?” .NET is new, and there are many questions about what it can do for you. From a Visual Basic standpoint, it’s important to understand some of the dramatic benefits that can be achieved by moving to VB.NET.

I remember the moment when I wrote my first Visual Basic application? For some people, that moment happened ten years ago, when Microsoft released Visual Basic 1.0 in 1991. For others, that moment comes today, when they use Visual Basic.NET for the first time. Whenever it happens, I experience a feeling familiar
to all VB programmers: “Wow! This makes development easy!” It happened to me in 2003, when I wrote my first application using Visual Basic 3.0. The application was a data-entry form with a data control, some text boxes, and an OK button—a simple application that read and wrote data to a Microsoft Access database. It took only a quarter of an hour to develop, and most importantly: I had fun doing it! When I finished, I realized that in fifteen minutes, VB had turned me into a Windows programmer, and my head started filling up with ideas of amazing programs I could write using VB. Suddenly, I was hooked.
I wasn’t alone. Since its inception in 1991, more than three million other developers have become hooked on VB. Visual Basic 1.0 revolutionized the way people developed software for Windows; it demystified the process of Windows application development and opened up programming to the masses. In its more than seven versions, Visual Basic has continued to provide us with the features we need to create rich, powerful Windows applications and as our needs evolved, so too did the Visual Basic feature set. In VB 1.0, database programming was limited to CardFile, the editor did not support Intellisense, and there were no Web development capabilities. Over the years, features such as these have been introduced and enhanced: VB 3.0 introduced the DAO data control and enabled us to easily write applications that interact with information in Access databases. When Windows 95 was released, VB 4.0 opened the door to 32-bit development and delivered the ability to write class modules and DLLs. VB 5.0 delivered productivity improvements with Intellisense in code and ActiveX control authoring. VB 6.0 introduced us to Internet programming with WebClasses and ActiveX DHTML pages. Just as Visual Basic 1.0 opened the door to Windows development, Visual Basic.NET again opens up software development—this time to the more than three million Visual Basic developers. It makes it easier than ever before for VB developers to build scalable Web and server applications. It provides technology to bridge the gap from traditional client-side development to the next generation of Web services and applications. It extends the RAD experience that is the heart of Visual Basic to the server and to the Internet.
Visual Basic.NET introduces some new concepts; concepts such as assemblies, Web services, ADO.NET, and the .NET Framework.

Compared to many programming languages, Visual Basic.NET is a fairly easy language to learn. Unlike the C family of languages, VB.NET prefers to use the English language rather than cryptic symbols like &&, , and %. Unlike prior versions of the VB language, however, VB.NET is a full-featured object-oriented language that can hold its own when compared to C++, C#, or Java. | Continue Reading..

Learning Source Code...

An easy way to share my mind...
Studied in Visual Basic for about 4 years, till now, i support
Php & mySQL, C#, ASP.NET, Java, J#, Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Director, 3DSMax, and other useful programs.
From 2004-2007, i have created for about 96 programs. I work for my friends to help them in the final exam. and other company to help them to predict, selling, and advertise their products.

Thats it, and sorry about my english, i'll try to support all of you in english or in indonesian. This just some of my way to practice my english..
Feel free to contact me.

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Program Indonesia

Welcome to the Unofficial SoetraSoft.
Free Visual Basic Source Code.
Remember the past, Challenge the future...
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