How Ironic!

I noticed this article on the back pages of DAWN the other day entitled Pakistani visitors highest spenders in UK. How frigging Ironic is that?!

I mean, what is the harsh reality that we're faced with ? That Pakistan is an extremely poor country, where more than half of the population is illiterate (contrary to the claims by the Govt.) and where poverty is rampant.

This just shows that the state is in dire straits when it comes to money while the well-off people of Pakistan are going around minding their own business living a life of luxury, traveling all over the world! I am not casting blame on anyone but it is a fact that every second person is looking for a way out of Pakistan and it is also no secret that majority of us wouldn't say no to some easy money, when it comes our way, given the hapless state of law-enforcement and almost non-existence of checks and balances, this is pretty much the order of things here.

The country may be attracting a lot of foreign investment but I don't see any visible progress among the people of Pakistan, shouldn't they be the first priority? What good is all the money if it's given back to community by investing on Education, Poverty Alleviation et al. The disparity between the rich and the poor increases day-by-day and here we are selling islands to foreign firms to build resorts on, constructing 7-star hotels! For who exactly? The 0.1% that form the elite? I wonder how long will the one-man show last in Pakistan.

Final Bout!

My finals are in progress, for the final time not to mention. The four years have whizzed by to be honest and I can't believe how fast life nowadays has gotten.

A belated Eid Mubaraks to everyone even though I think I've lost all my blog audience by now :P! .. Anyway, have fun .. I'll be back soon. Watch this Space!

Adios!

A sad day for Pakistan

Who thought that it would come to this?! That the flag which we hold so dear will be burnt someday on our own soil and by our own people. Akbar Bugti era may have come to an end but only time will tell what it may have started. I am not a sympathizer of his by any means and I understand the plan to kill him had been made long ago, ever since he decided to take up arms. But I refuse to believe that there was no other way and if you ask me, his death will only encourage more baloch youths to join in the struggle their leader gave his life for.

There are widespread protests already and there are more to follow with strikes being announced in the coming days. I fear the worst. God save Pakistan.

New Yorker - Bush Planned Lebanon War Months Before

Pakistan turns 59!

A Happy Independence day to you all!

Typical of the current power crisis in Karachi, as the clock struck midnight ... we were without power! How unfortunate that even after 59 years of existence as a separate nation, we have been unable to ensure the provision of basic infrastructure to the citizens of this country.... and all this in the biggest and by far the most important city of Pakistan. A spell of week-long monsoon rainfall and this city is down to it's knees ... literally. Sad.

To quote an article in DAWN's Magazine by Ms. Sadia Rauf ..

The government will talk about making fancy roads and parks then inaugurate those at our inconvenience. The parks have too many lights that drain the power supply. The roads, the ‘flyover and underpass’ like creations serve one purpose: traffic chaos and water collection.

And I’m supposed to love this country? I’m supposed to vote in the next election? I’m supposed to actually believe that anyone in this existing system knows what they’re doing? We’re a city – yet, suddenly, we’re living submerged in murky waters and waking up to rats.

Excellent. I love this country.

But what I love even more iis the nerve, the audacity and the shamelessness with which we, the masses, are expected to fall for the government’s theories of progress. There is no election. We should all choose to elect sense. Since there isn’t any – I’ll say it again – there is no election.

The full article is here.

Awesome Mausam!

Karachi's been witnessing some awesome mausam for the last couple of days. Too bad it's gotten me under the weather a little with some fever and cold. I guess I stayed out in the rain a little too long to catch the cold n all.

Anyway, life's been busy both at uni and at home. Had my birthday yesterday, took my friends on a little treat today to a place in Jauhar. FM was kind enough to wish me on his blog.

Thats aboot it. Hope I get well soon.

Pitiful time to be a muslim

The last couple of days have been extremely troubling for the Muslim in me. First, Israel launched an air assault on Lebanon in response to two of its soldiers being captured. And then the tragic martyrdom of Allam Hasan Turabi on Friday. It seems the city is at the mercy of these cold-blooded killers who strike whenever and wherever they like with no fear of capture, and rightly so, no one in recent times has been brought to justice.

As far as the bigger picture goes, we have the Zionists killing palestinians and now lebanese civilians too! And all Mr. Bush had to say after Israel's latest disregard for international laws was that 'Israel has a right to defend herself'! Well, so do the palestinians and the lebanese you moron! What do you think the palestinians have been doing for decades?! You drive them out of their lands, force them to live as third-class citizens in your occupied land and now you hold them responsible for standing up and defending themselves in the face of years of injustice! Damn you! Damn all of you!

It sickens me to see that NO muslim state has the bottle to stand up to Israel, look it in the eye and tell them to back off or else! Except for a statement from Iran today warning Israel of dire consequences, no one has taken that hard a stand! What proud UMMAT we all are. If our disunity wasn't enough to hang our heads in shame, our good old friends from the Kingdom of Saudia actually came out critcising Hezbullah! Do they not know that it is a sin in itself not to raise your voice and defend yourself against relentless oppression?!

The only LIGHT in an otherwise bleak future of the UMMAH is that justice will prevail in the end afterall. God will surely have the final word. It has been promised that there will come a blessed man from whose hands all evil will be defeated once and for all. May God hasten his re-appearance. Amen!

Go Italy!

I've been wanting to post here about the ongoing Football World Cup but always forgot, so here I am showing my support to the Italians before their big game. I have watched almost all matches at this World Cup and although my favorites were Argentina, they were cruelly knocked out on penalties by the Germans, I guess home advantage does count a lot at the finals. Anyways, there was nothing cruel about Italy's win over the hosts in the Semi-Final. It was a thoroughly deserved victory as the Italians caught the eye from the start and especially threatened to score in the extra time.

The French, meanwhile, have been impressive but not brilliant. 'Zizou' still has a few flashes of brilliance left in him but they're not as good as the Azzuri for certain. I really hope Italy beat them in normal time, fair and square. The look on Henry's face would be worth seeing, heh. Go Italy!

Vacations

The vacations are drawing to a close (All good things come to an end, as they say). So before we know it, we'll be back to Uni life and what follows is the same old same old. Besides procrastinating on final year project work, I did some side-projects (mostly on dot net) and watched some Star Trek. It might come as a surprise but I have become quite a fan of Star Trek ever since I borrowed the Deep Space Nine series from my friend Whiz. It's amazing how often we form preconceived notions about things without ever really knowing about them. I remember not watching the first installment of Lord of the Rings until after a couple of months of its release, I thought it was some ordinary movie before I saw it and instantly became a fan. Kher, I'm sure it applies on things other than movies as well :-) ... my mind cannot seem to go beyond TV for now!

Other than that I've been reading some blogs and found The Olive Ream to be an excellent read. Do check it out. Satirical humour at its best I tell you.

Five Reasons to Stop US Military Aid to Israel

Read them here:
http://www.stop-us-military-aid-to-israel.net/

Also, a wonderful post on the Israeli-Palestinian issue by Teeth Maestro echoes my sentiments exactly. Do read @ http://www.teeth.com.pk/blog/2006/06/22/will-you-stop/

Living Hell!

Karachiites have been experiencing sweltering heat for the last 3 days with the mercury rising to as much as 42 degrees centigrade! What has compounded our misery even more is the constant breakdown of power supply to our homes. Yesterday, we had three long and gruelling power outages and in this heat, it is no less than a living hell especially if you've got no generator or UPS like me! ...

One wonders what have regular citizens (who always pay their bills on time) have done to deserve this. KESC is in turmoil and it is reported that these outages will continue for another couple of months! Looks like we can look forward to more outages when the Monsoon arrives, but hey atleast it won't be as bad as this ... I'll take that over this load-shedding any day!

WC is on!

The World Cup is well and truly ON! It's going to be one heck of a summer. May the best team win as long as its not Germany! ;)

Blogged with Flock

Funny Own Goals

Oh, you guys have to check this out! .. Absolutely hilarious own goals ...

This one is from Franck Quedrueue (ex-Middlesbrough)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reD8qLYyTOg&search=funny%20own%20goal

Some non-leaguers ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1csQG0ZciFQ&search=chris%20brass%20own%20goal

Of Bibi and Sharfu

Only in Pakistan can you loot and plunder a country (not once but twice!) and still be considered respectable enough to run for a third friggin term! Both of our ex-Prime Ministers ... the so called harbingers of democracy should honestly be shot for the state they'd brought the country in before Mshy took over. I'm not advocating for Mushy here but I can't bear the sight of these two looters on my television set, it makes my blood boil tbh!

Too bad the masses of this great country are still under the control of feudal lords with loyal vote banks littered all over rural areas. No matter what crimes these people commit, their vote banks stay by and large intact. I pray we don't see either of them back in power again ... that would surely put us back several steps.

Blogspot unblocked (again)

The entire blogspot domain seems to have been unblocked by the PTA again, for some reason. It remains to be seen whether they've moved to please somebody else this time or if some sense has finally been kicked into their heads.

Why you should not resist

DAWN Metropolitan, Friday May 25th

KARACHI: Young man shot dead
KARACHI, May 25: A young man was shot dead in an attempt to save his cell phone from being snatched in Liaquatabad on Thursday. Police said two men came to the shop of Atta Mohammad, 25. As Atta received a call on his cell phone, the suspects tried to snatch it. As Atta resisted them, they shot him dead and fled after snatching his phone set.

The incident occurred in C-1 Area.

Hi-Res Photo: The International Space Station

The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest human-made object ever to orbit the Earth. After departing the ISS, the crew of Discovery captured this spectacular vista of the orbiting space city high above the Caspian Sea.

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Child Labour

Such is the unfortunate condition in our country that you wouldn't be astounded at seeing nine or ten-year olds being made to work and earn money when all they should be concerned about is getting an education. It was a first, atleast for me, when yesterday I came across a 10-year old bus conductor! ... Imagine that, trusting a little kid with collecting money and what not of a bus route .. sad but at the same time amazing. Clad in a green shalwar kameez, he was shouting ... KADIA, Jamia Cloth, Tower aaay! in the usual conductor style.

Well, atleast the ladies wouldn't mind seeing a conductor in their compartment now ... Ok, bad joke I'll sign off now ...

Growing Crime in Karachi!

Just the other day while returning home from the PASHA Job Fair 2006, I was sitting in my passenger seat in Star Line coach and this guy got on from Pearl Continental and stood right next to me as there was no room to sit. I couldn't help but notice the top part of his mobile phone clearly visible in the front pocket of the jeans he was wearing. For a second, I thought I should let this guy know because you never someone else with not-so-noble intentions might see it.

And you know what? 10 minutes later! I hear the same guy, screaming ... "Mera Mobile!" frantically checking the bag and pockets for his cellphone, which was by now gone! :( Someone had obviously spotted it and expertly taken it out without or him or me sitting right in front of him noticing it!

I felt sick, cursing myself for not telling him. God knows what this city is coming to.

AGP has one last stance?

Ever since the industry switched to PCI-E graphics cards AGP users have watched as compatible components with the aging interface have slowly dried up. While the death of AGP is inevitable Gainward intends to provide support until the bitter end. Read on to see what the Gainward Bliss 7800GS has to offer.

read more | digg story

Google News gets foiled by 15-year old

Tom Vandetta found an article that explained how to fool Google's news system by writing fake press releases. He then decided to see what would happen if he submitted a fake Google press release claiming the 15-year old New Jersey student was Google's youngest employee.

read more | digg story

Blogspot.com Censored in Pakistan

The Pakistani Government has blocked access to hundreds of Blogs being hosted on the domain blogspot.com. The Blogging community in Pakistan appeals to everyone to join us in condemning this action by the bureaucracy in Pakistan.

read more | digg story

Iraq Burns!

What took place in Samarra cannot be condemned enough by all Muslims (shias in particular). Such sacrilege and disrespect shown to one of the holiest sites in Islam is deplorable. While everyone points the finger firmly towards the United States and their Western Allies for trying to deviate attention from another much serious case of blasphemy, I remain unconvinced. I'd rather still point the finger at them for for a totally different reason. It is they, who are responsible for bringing Iraq to where it is today, on the brink of civil war! ...

The leaders of US, UK and their Allies are the biggest violators of human rights and should be put to trial for their transgressions. It has been proven now that there were never any Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) present in Iraq, yet they based their entire going-to-war argument on this flase and fabricated fact and tried to convince the rest of the world that they were right in doing what they did.

Their so-called mission of "liberating eye-raq" has had thousands of innocent civilians killed in the ensuing violence which continues to threaten the country. All kinds of militia are now crossing the border into Iraq and killing at random. Can they still justify their actions for the sake of freedom?!

Abu-Musab Al-Zarqawi declared a full blown out war against the Shias in Iraq some time ago. Who will hunt him down when the US leaves?! Ask any iraqi and he'd rather go back to the rule of Saddam than live under US control which is more anarchic than anything, where road bombs and suicide attacks kill hundreds every week!

Such blatant acts of terrorism and the very people responsible for it should be condemned and tried in a court of law for their actions have killed thousands! With no end in sight to the violence that has gripped Iraq, one can only wonder how many more people will have to die before peace and stability return. God help us!

More details @ http://al-islam.org/static.php?content=samarra

Statement by Ayatullah Al-Sistani | Statement by Ayatullah Ali Khamenai

Whats my perfect major?

You scored as Philosophy. You should be a Philosophy major! Like the Philosopher, you are contemplative and you enjoy thinking about the purpose for humanity's existence. Philosophy 83% Mathematics 75% Chemistry 67% Engineering 67% Journalism 67% Psychology 67% Sociology 58% Art 58% Biology 58% Linguistics 58% English 50% Theater 42% Dance 33% Anthropology 25% What is your Perfect Major? (PLEASE RATE ME!!<3) created with QuizFarm.com

Killer Xbox 360 Ad

Heard about the Xbox 360 advertisement that Microsoft is refusing to air? Well, its the best ad Microsoft has ever done, and one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. I can still understand why the lawyers stopped them from airing the ad, but if Microsoft was smart, this would be airing in every movie theatre in the nation. - Nathan Weinberg ...

Link: http://www.youtube.com/?v=WnpGtHq7Z0U

note: Requires high-speed internet connection to play the video

Students at MIT give flying car a shot

An SUV with retractable wings could make 100- to 500-mile jumps and carry two people and luggage on a single tank of gas.

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Gmail for your domain

This special beta test lets you give Gmail, Google's webmail service, to every user at your domain. Gmail for your domain is hosted by Google, so there's no hardware or software for you to install or maintain.

read more | digg story

Flat-Panel CRT!

You heard it here first! ... CRTs and that too flat-panelled. Check out the link to see the fantastic new technology in the offing that will become very much the norm in the future. Excellent explaination of the working at this site.

http://www.canon.com/technology/display/

Muslims show anger at Danish cartoons

A row has been going on recently about the publication of insulting cartoons in some Danish newspaper called Jyllands-Posten about our Prophet (P.B.U.H). The row has been going on since October (links to news stories below) and has only intensified recently when Saudi Arabia recalled it Danish ambassador from Copenhagen. Why has there been no response from Pakistan is as mystifying as the lack of response from other Muslim countries, although that may well change soon as the row has intensified with the publication of the same cartoons in leading newspapers across Europe as a show of support for the Danish paper.

The justification being given by these reporters is that Muslims should accept the freedom of the press which apparently allows them to print anything they want unconditionally! Now, you wouldn't see papers smearing dirt on personalities held dear by millions of followers of other religions across the world, would you? What kind of a press allows for poking fun at such sensitive issues like Religion, which directly affects the entire Muslim population but even more so affects the Muslims that form an integral of their very own states!

There has been an utter and total condemnation of this heinous act by muslim countries and more should join in to voice their discontent at such hideousness in the name of press freedom!

Muhammad cartoon row intensifies :: 01 Feb 06
Arab ministers condemn cartoons :: 31 Jan 06

Nordic firm hit by Arab boycott :: 31 Jan 06

Danes face growing Muslim storm :: 31 Jan 06

Saudis recall envoy in Danish row :: 26 Jan 06

Muslim anger at Danish cartoons :: 20 Oct 05

My first SPAM via Snail Mail

Behold! ... Finally, I got my first spam mail through the post today. The ever-reliant (?) PakPost guy delivered to me place a letter by some Patrick M. Dube who referred to me as "Abbas Raza" couldn't he bother to place a comma in between .. Khair, Mr. Patrick is apparently someone really BIG and is in possession of $16.8million!! .. No wonder he seeks to start an urgent business relationship with me so that he could transfer the funds abroad asap to escape from his god-knows-what calamity ( couldn't be more bewildering to be honest ).

On top of all the tripe, the letter is even personally signed by some moron but the sign looks anything but his name, starts with an 'S' and then goes haywire ... maybe he wrote shithole or something?! lolz ...

Hold on, suddenly my CD-writer's ripping Ussie's cd at 30X , god!, I must be dreaming!

later!

Computer Clock Cycle Jargon

A mention of MegaHertz not being a very accurate measure of the computational power by our Chariman sahab during his class of Computer System Modeling reminded me of this neat article that I dugg some time ago on Digg.com ...

AMD has been gaining lost ground to its arch-rival Intel recently ... and in some areas, it has even taken the lead (atleast thats what my cousin who sells AMD tells me) . Khair, take a look ...

http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2005Dec/bch20051215033811.htm

You think you're smart?

Time to put your brains to the test ... a supposed "intelligence" test by MENSA:

http://www.mensa-test.com

If you're really up for it then you might as well give this one a go too ...

http://www.mensa.org/workout2.php

First Post

Just came back from an overnight bar b.q at a friend's place ... Dizzy as hell. Why'd I choose this moment to create my blog? Dunno .. but if I were Khushka I'd say ..."Abbu nay kaha tha!" .. lolz! .. welcome to me place!