New photos from the KAUST campus during orientation. I hate waking up at 6 am. I agree with myself when I got here that I didn’t need to shave until I moved into my apartment. I thought that would mean a few days. It turned out to mean over two weeks and counting. Rumor says [...]
There are many things to say about KAUST that are awesome. I went to a friend’s future apartment today and it was awesome with running water, working AC, and an internet connection. It is the King’s vision – one that I am glad to be onboard with. Today we were told constructive criticism was a [...]
I have registered with the local embassy, have my passport back, and now have my iqama (green card). It is awesome, I can open a bank account and everything. Nowadays all we do is bus to campus (1.5 hours each way) to watch slow powerpoint presentations. Someone asked today if we had the first amendment at [...]
In WWII we lost many bombers. We noticed the planes coming back had bullet holes mostly in certain places. So we reinforced those places hit. This was wrong because they were the planes that made it back and thus did not suffer a fatal impact. We should have reinforced the places returning bombers did not [...]
Boom. Boom. Boom. Went the firecracker in the crowded pedestrian tunnel in old Jeddah. Of course what went through my head for a second was the suicide bomber in Riyadh that tried to kill a prince earlier in the day. The relief came fast enough. But the group of us Westerners in a place that [...]
Yesterday we got on the buses at 6:30 am for a full day of activities that last until midnight – no room for sleep. On the buses were boxes that were about the size of a laptop box. The excitement was dwarfed by the reality of a lot of packaging that had at its core [...]
Wait a few months, like November (October 22, technically). Windows 7 and some cool (literal) new intel processors are coming out. Many people have been asking me about building a computer because I recently built a sweet computer that I will detail later. But these are the things you need to know: You better have [...]
Here are two good New York Times Articles: Deficits are not bad and are mostly a political issue. Not spending Money and having the economy crash would be worse. How to be a push a partisan agenda while not being partisan. Ted Kennedy was far left but compromised over decades to move his ideas forward pragmatically.
America has become too much of a country that aims for the middle and the lowest common denominator. It will destroy our society. Reading Rainbow, the third longest running PBS children’s program, has been cancelled. PBS claims that it does not teach basic reading skills, instead focusing on inspiring children to want to read. Television is [...]
I spent tonight eating dinner with three fellow students from Wisconsin, England, and Syria (axis of evil). We talked for a few hours about everything from how Minnesota is way better than Wisconsin to conspiracy theories about 9/11. We then went to a local supermarket to get bottles of pop (soda) for 1 riyal (a [...]
Read it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kennedy
Photos now available at http://www.benfrevert.org/images/ or click the link in the bar at the top of the page, just below the title!
This interactive graph (oooh!) from the New York Times shows how the average American spends their day with breakdowns for age, race, education, gender, and employment level.
Gas is cheaper than water here. Locals don’t even know the price. I had a four hour dinner tonight followed by a driving tour of Jeddah. We walked through a high-priced shopping center. We had discussions about how Saudis get married. Dating goes on here under the radar, depending on the family. Being engaged is [...]
I have encountered two encouraging signs in the past fews day. The latter is the single drop of rain I felt on Monday night after coming back from campus. The former is the voice of Garrison Keillor I heard on the TV radio channel broadcasting A Prairie Home Companion over NPR international – a slice of home [...]