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2003 was not an year to remember for many reasons. Terrorism, war and many deaths marked the whole year.

I wish that 2004 would be somewhat different. We want peace, stability and wish that human virtues would be uphold in every corner of the world.

But it will be difficult. You call it a jinx but Blogger & Blogspot were down when I tried to post this message. What an way to start the new year. But there is no fun in the life's adventures without hurdles.

Top-ten good things about being an average Bangladeshi according to me:

10. I can easily poke my nose in other's affairs.

9. My popular pastime in Dhaka is eating out with friends or family (as there are only a few other places to go for amusement or a stroll).

8. I can watch Hindi movie and listen to Indian music all the day and still call others India'r Dalal (India's agent)

7. I can be critic about Bengali TV Channels and their programs and watch HBO, ESPN and Hindi channels all the time.

6. I can pee wherever I like.

5. I can cheer for my national football or cricket team knowing that they are going to loose and still be happy.

4. I can call my Hindu friend 'malawon' and still remain in one piece and be friends forever.

3. I only go to Jumma Prayers (in Friday) and still deemed as a pious Muslim in an Islamic country.

2. I can give you any sort of advice (from medicine to your problems in love life)

1. I don't have to vote for Bush next year.

Meme, n. : A unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another.

Behaviors and ideas copied from person to person by imitation - memes - may have forced human genes to make us what we are today.

Memetics is a scientific theory unifying biology, psychology, and cognitive science. Memetics has uncovered the existence of viruses of the mind. Viruses of the mind have been with us throughout history, but are constantly evolving and changing. They are infectious pieces of our culture that spread rapidly throughout a population, altering people's thoughts and lives in their wake. They include everything from relatively harmless mind viruses, such as miniskirts and slang phrases, to mind viruses that seriously derail people's lives. When these pieces of culture are ones we like, there is no problem. However, viruses of the mind can program us to think and behave in ways that are destructive to our lives.

This is the most surprising and most profound insight from the science of memetics: your thoughts are not always your own original ideas. You catch thoughts;you get infected with them, both directly from other people and indirectly from viruses of the mind. People don't seem to like the idea that they aren't in control of their thoughts. Further compounding the problem, you don't immediately know whether the programming you get from a given mind virus is harmful or beneficial.

Once created, a virus of the mind gains a life independent of its creator and evolves quickly to infect as many people as possible simply by communicating.

(Source)

Now to talk about the recent memes in the blogosphere. I came across one, which is an effort to describe oneself by the letters from A-Z. I was thinking about writing about myself in one post. So I easily caught this virus. The end result is posted below: