How much is your blog worth ?

Here's a neat little utility that will calculate the monetary value of your blog based on it's populary using the Technorati API. Needless to say, my blog's value comes out a whopping $0.00! :P But some other blogs I read are worth quite a lot apparently - like Teeth Maestro's blog is valued around $64,000!

So, how much is YOUR blog worth ? Go here and find out!
http://www.business-opportunities.biz/projects/how-much-is-your-blog-worth/

If I were in South Park ...

I'd look something like this I believe ...


You can make your own South Park character here :
http://spstudio.julia.hosting-friends.de/sp-studio.swf

Amazing bit of work by those guys.

Third Cricket Test and Ashura

It was saddening, almost shocking for me, to see that the third test which commences on the 26th of January will have its last two days on the 9th and 10th of Muharram. Being a Muslim nation, I think the team could at least have requested the concerned authorities to move the test forward by a day or two. The 10th of Muharram is no ordinary day and it shouldn't be marked as such. I pity those who do not treat it as that and then wonder why the Muslim World, collectively, is facing the hardships it is facing today.

How to become a web designer

Finally a full guide on how to be a perfect web designer. Maybe now some people will actually develop some good skills. I can only pray. God be with you.

read more | digg story

So, Saddam is dead

I don't think there's any doubting that he met his deserved fate finally. Maybe he deserved even worse ... for the countless crimes he committed during his long reign as the undisputed Iraqi President. There were two things about this event that really pissed me off ... here goes ...

First of all, the timing of his hanging. Why on earth did they choose Eid ?! Moreover, they showed images of 'Shias' celebrating and rejoicing holding Muqtada Sadr's posters et al. If this is not American propaganda then I don't know what is! It is obvious they are trying to fuel the already catastrophic peace situation in Iraq by giving rise to even more sectarian differences. I fear there will be no turning back for Iraq now as the Sunnis will most likely adopt Saddam as a hero who gave his life for them. The sad thing is the American media is constantly showing these images as if purposely portraying the idea that it was the Shias who hanged him, with images of them reciting Durood and reveling.

Secondly, the people here in Pakistan who are portraying him as a HERO! Go f*** yourself I say! ... You have to be the most ignorant person alive to have the nerve to call him anything remotely resembling a hero. His hands are stained with the blood of thousands, if not millions. He surely deserved to die a more painful death.

But you can't help but wonder there's a BIG plan behind all this American bullcrap strategy of divide and conqeur. Thankfully, we've been given a new lease of life after Hezbollah's offensive and Iran's strong stance against the US on the nuclear issue. Everyone else, apparently, is ready to give in to American pressure. It'll be interesting to see how all this pans out.

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.