Adam Chehouri's Blog, page 5

WASET Conference is a FAKE

This post is intended for all researchers that want or thinking of attending the Montreal 2014 Conference organized by WASET (that is theoretically supposed to occur at the Ritz-Carlton Montreal hotel) AND to all who wish to attend future conferences held by WASET, please read below:
I submitted my abstract February 7 2014 and selected the option to have an oral presentation rather than a poster. March 6 I receive an email informing me that my paper was accepted (although they did not properly copy and paste the title of my paper) anyway, you can check the official acceptance paper.


Since the topic of my paper is on wind turbine blade optimization, I believed that by the name of the chosen conference ICSREE 2014: International Conference on Sustainable and Renewable Energy Engineering, researchers in this domain from around the world will be gathered with interesting papers and presentations.... Well, judge yourself, take a look at the Conference Program.  In fact, what I noticed that there is no conference in that name, and what you will find is 4 pages
What is the most shocking is that, several reports of spam were reported by previous attendees of conferences organized by WASET, one of them reported that once he made the money transfer to the bank (by the way you cannot pay by credit card, and have to make a money transfer to a country outside Canada), this person never received a response... basically his money was stolen. Another person reported that approaching the day of the conference thinking that it will be held in a particular hotel, he was shocked to hear that the conference has been transferred to another venue. Fortunately for me I have not made any payment or yet any hotel reservations, but these reports were frightening me and so I took the initiative to call hotel that the WASET Montreal 2014 website indicated as their venue, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. I spook with the meeting and special events manager and she clearly stated, there is no conference reserved on the 12 and 13 of May 2014. She requested that I give her all the information regarding this conference and I forwarded the flyer, website and all the letters that I received, and I am happy to report to you her answer:  
Monsieur Chehouri,
Je viens de prendre connaissance que le site waset et un "scam".Tel que mentionné nous n'avions riend de réservé pour ce type d'événement dans notre hotel Encore une fois, merci de ces informations précieuses
Au plaisir,  
This post is intended In other words, the site is a SPAM. This information comes from a reliable source, most probably the IT department of the hotel.
So please if you've submitted your paper to this conference (Montreal 2014 May 12, 14) under any conference name or subject, consider reviewing your decision. And if you are considering to attend a WASET conference in the future, please note that I have no intention of attacking any party or organizing committee, but as a researcher and a first year PhD student I know that hard work goes into writing a paper ad no one wants their work wasted in the end. Lastly, I would like to share with you this number 17 847. That is the number of paper that have been published from previous conference since January 2007. Now if my math is correct, that in more than 400 papers per conference assuming one conference per month since January 2007. This shows you the level of paper reviewing and its credibility (if there is any !!!).  

What is your experience with WASET and what are your comments? Please SHARE this increase the awareness concerning this fraud. 
UPDATE

Due to the number of comment I am receiving in regards on this post, and the experiences that past participants shared with me in regards to WASET, I would like to add the following. 

During February and March, the WASET conference listed the Ritz-Carlton as their venue and this was the flyer they posted. 

Recently I visited their website only to realize that the conference venue has been changed. the new hotel is the Best Western Hotel. I made contact with this hotel to warn them but did not receive any response. 

Time Magazine All Time 100 Novels

In a recent search to find the All Time greatest books, I stumbled upon many lists. However I find this list pretty realistic and fair. Honestly I haven't read all the books on that Top Ten... This is my current quest :) Take a look at the complete list of All Time 100 Novels from 1923 to 2005. (Source)

Happy Reading :)

1To Kill a Mockingbird 
by Harper Lee 
4.23 of 5 stars 4.23 avg rating — 1,755,344 ratings
21984 
by George Orwell 
4.08 of 5 stars 4.08 avg rating — 1,142,184 ratings






3The Lord of the Rings (The Lord of the Rings, #1-3) 
by J.R.R. Tolkien 
4.43 of 5 stars 4.43 avg rating — 257,343 ratings










4The Catcher in the Rye 
by J.D. Salinger 
3.77 of 5 stars 3.77 avg rating — 1,342,543 ratings






5The Great Gatsby 
by F. Scott Fitzgerald 
3.82 of 5 stars 3.82 avg rating — 1,504,149 ratings






6The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #1) 
by C.S. Lewis 
4.15 of 5 stars 4.15 avg rating — 840,903 ratings






7Lord of the Flies 
by William Golding 
3.6 of 5 stars 3.60 avg rating — 1,094,410 ratings






8Animal Farm 
by George Orwell 
3.78 of 5 stars 3.78 avg rating — 1,182,149 ratings





9Catch-22 (Catch-22, #1) 
by Joseph Heller 
3.96 of 5 stars 3.96 avg rating — 357,258 ratings






10The Grapes of Wrath 
by John Steinbeck 
3.87 of 5 stars 3.87 avg rating — 338,187 ratings







Source: http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2681.Time_Magazine_s_All_Time_100_Novels

Get Ready for TED2014

If you are a huge TED fan like myself, then you will find this post I came threw will surfing the web very tempting. This years TED2014 conference will be held in the beautiful city of Vancouver, Canada and the theme this year is The Next Chapter. This conference will mark the 30th anniversary conference, a sold out event, next month between March 17 till 21. Mark your calendars and prepare yourself by reading about the presenters and their amazing work (Source).


Books to get for TED 2014At TED2014, astronaut Chris Hadfield and journalist Jon Moollem will give talks, and Sting will perform.Books from speakers in Session 1, “Liftoff”
Being Digital , by Nicholas Negroponte. This 1995 bestseller grew out of Negroponte’s column exploring technology and explaining new inventions. (New at the time, that is. It’ll make for the perfect nostalgic read.) An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth , by Chris Hadfield. In his new book, the astronaut gives an insider’s view on what it’s like to be in space—and the lessons he’s learned from that pursuit. (While you’re at it, check out  Earth, Spirit of Place , which features Hadfield’s beautiful photography.)Books from speakers in Session 4, “Wish” Climate Change: Picturing the Science , by Gavin Schmidt and Joshua Wolfe. Schmidt, a climate scientist, teamed up with Wolfe, a photographer, to illustrate the huge impact of shifting weather patterns via visuals of sinking villages, shrinking glaciers, and more. Business @ the Speed of Thought , by Bill Gates. In his book, Gates, who will speak with his wife and business partner Melinda, gives a prescient analysis of the ways in which technology can aid businesses, and its potential to transform the business landscape. Broken Music , by Sting. The singer-songwriter began penning his memoir when he turned 50. It gives a deep look into his past, from his childhood to the beginning of his success as a musician.Books from speakers in Session 5, “Us” Functional Neuroimaging of Visual Cognition , by Nancy Kanwisher and John Duncan, editors. Kanwisher and Duncan present the accounts of various luminaries in cognitive neuroscience. Wild Ones , by Jon Mooallem. Mooallem, a journalist, examines our literal and imaginative relationships with wild animals, focusing on the polar bear, the Lange’s metalmark butterfly, and the whooping crane. Constructing the World , by David Chalmers. Chalmers, a philosopher, presents a model for understanding the world.Books from speakers in Session 6, “Wired”  Beautifully Unique Sparkleponies , by Chris Kluwe. In this unconventional book, the football punter addresses issues from guns and the Pope’s Twitter feed to time travel and the end of the world. xkcd: volume 0 , by Randall Munroe. The first xkcd book features selections from Munroe’s geek-oriented, but widely loved, webcomic. Manufacturing the Future , by Avi Reichental. In his forthcoming book, Reichental explains the ways in which businesses can benefit from 3D printing technology.Books to get for TED 2014Also speaking at TED2014—David Epstein, Jennifer Senior and Andrew Solomon.Books from speakers in Session 7, “Why?” Evelyn Evelyn , by Jason Webley, Amanda Palmer and Cynthia von Buhler. Two of this book’s author will be at TED2014—Webley will perform during session 7, while Palmer (who gave an incredible talk at last year’s conference) will appear during a special TED All-Stars list. It’s the illustrated story of a pair of conjoined twins’ story. Reflections , by Helder Guimarães. In this unfortunately out-of-print book, the magician reflects on his craft. Why Does the World Exist? , by Jim Holt. The philosopher explores one of the biggest questions in existence through various lenses by asking experts from physicists to philosophers to novelists.Books from speakers in Sessions 8, “Hacked,” and Session 9, “Emergent” Not Exactly Rocket Science , by Ed Yong. The essays in this book, drawn from Yong’s blog of the same name, look at quirky and fascinating scientific findings. The Sports Gene , by David Epstein. What makes a star athlete? Epstein investigates the classic nature-versus-nurture debate as it applies to sports. Ant Encounters , by Deborah Gordon. Gordon, an ecologist, explains how ant colonies function (thrive!) without any centralized control or hierarchy.Books from speakers in Session 11, “Unstress” All Joy and No Fun , by Jennifer Senior. Senior, a journalist, delves into the reality of how having children changes parents’ lives, particularly in light of the changes family structures have undergone in recent decades. Start with Why , by Simon Sinek. Sinek proposes several qualities that super-influential people share.Books from speakers in Session 12, “Onward” Far from the Tree , by Andrew Solomon. Solomon tells the stories of families with children who have Down syndrome, schizophrenia, deafness, and other qualities that make them exceptional. Gabby , by Gabrielle Giffords and Mark Kelly. Congresswoman Giffords was the victim of an assassination attempt in 2011. In this book, she and her husband, Kelly, tell the story of her brain injury and painstaking process of recovery. If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Your Mother , by Julia Sweeney. In this memoir, Sweeney explores what it’s like to be a child, and to be a parent.
Tune in to the TED Blog for live coverage of TED2014 beginning on March 17.Source: http://blog.ted.com/2014/02/22/books-to-get-you-ready-for-ted2014/