Author Archives: Ian Whiteman

About Ian Whiteman

see www.cwdm-portfolio.com

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Posted on August 7, 2015 by Ian Whiteman

I’ve had a long holiday from this blog for various reasons including moving house, re-building it, and printing and publishing our new Diwan translation and all that that involved. Two months of unusually hot weather here in Spain further slowed my desire … Continue reading →

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The Diwan: a new translation

Posted on March 16, 2015 by Ian Whiteman

Editorial Qasida is pleased to announce the publication, of a new translation of the famous Diwan of the great Moroccan Alim and Sufi master, Sidi Muhammad Ibn al-Habib, may God be pleased with him, whom a small group of us first met in … Continue reading →

Posted in miscellaneous, music, Publishing, religion, sacred knowledge, tassawuf, typography / design | 16 Comments

What Chris Hedges has to say about it all.

Posted on January 13, 2015 by Ian Whiteman

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/a_message_from_the_dispossessed_20150111 As an experienced American war reporter he gets to the truth of it.

Posted in Comment, language, miscellaneous, religion, tassawuf, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Deadly Typos – the sequel

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Ian Whiteman

The Role of the Ulema I can’t be alone in being somewhat in the dark about the origin of militant extremism in the Middle East. Like many people, I’ve known bits of the puzzle but not how the … Continue reading →

Posted in typography / design | 1 Comment

Deadly Typos

Posted on September 30, 2014 by Ian Whiteman

A typo, or typographical error, is a fairly commonplace thing and an inherent danger of the printed word. Historically such errors have at times produced catastrophic and very costly results. The lack of a hyphen in some computer coding cost NASA hundreds of millions … Continue reading →

Posted in language, miscellaneous, Publishing, religion, sacred knowledge, typography / design | 10 Comments

The Sweetest of Music

Posted on August 24, 2014 by Ian Whiteman

then….. … and now This post is on a musical subject, so for those whom music is proscribed then look away now. Or maybe not, as you might learn something. I was recently on the west coast … Continue reading →

Posted in miscellaneous, music, religion, sacred knowledge, Uncategorized | 7 Comments

Moronic Iconic

Posted on July 29, 2014 by Ian Whiteman

I have always thought Jonathan Meades’ scathing criticism of the casual use of the word iconic amply justified. I suspect there are many things he, a well known British writer, critic and film maker, and me, would disagree on, … Continue reading →

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Pixel Imperfect

Posted on June 9, 2014 by Ian Whiteman

When computers took over most design offices all over the world in the 1980s, there was a seismic shift in the way that ideas conceived by designers were drawn and constructed. CAD (computer aided design) enabled an accuracy of seven … Continue reading →

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A Meaty Subject

Posted on May 11, 2014 by Ian Whiteman

I’ve given up writing comments on newspaper web sites as a waste of time. It’s just a way of readers, me included, venting their spleen and as currently I can’t think of anything to contribute on my chosen subject of … Continue reading →

Posted in miscellaneous, religion, sacred knowledge | 1 Comment

Arabic typesetting revisited

Posted on January 6, 2014 by Ian Whiteman

Hand written naskh (by Ibrahim Khattat – Iraq 20th century) My involvement with arabic has always been, for over 40 years, essentially calligraphic and I have always disliked the idea of trying to mechanise an essentially hand written script. But … Continue reading →

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