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How to Memorize and Retain

2012-02-21T18:24:00.001+05:00

No matter how much higher up we move in academia, there is always something that we need to just cram and recall during the exam. It can start from little mathematical formulae to a list of tests in chemistry; in management they can be principles that need to be the base of our answer and so on. Psychologists have done well enough to discover the patterns we use for learning but what I’m going to discuss here is some of the methods that are tried and tested by me or my college mates during our professional education and took me a lot of years to discover which one works best for me.

Make a story for a list of things

Being a fan of fiction I’m good at making up random stories and that’s what I do best to cram a list of points. Let’s say you want to memorize the following list for your software engineering class:

1. Gather Requirements
2. Develop Software Architecture
3. Coding and Development
4. Testing
5. Release and Maintenance

This list is way too easy if software engineering or computer science is the discipline of your study but let’s stick with it as an example. Now relax and let a story flow in your head: you are sitting in your cubicle at the office where the project manager is talking to a guy in a business suit who hands him a couple of diagrams and explains that his team needs to make the Matrix; this part is "Gather Requirements" step. The project manager gives the requirements to Leonardo Dicaprio (the dream architect from inception) who sitting in front of him huge table with very complex diagrams is working (Develop Software Architecture). Leonardo then approaches you handing the architecture and the plans while you sleep in your cubicle while you’re dreaming (or are you?). You are the master programmer and operator of the matrix who works on it (Coding and Development). Later Morpheus enters the system you have develop and tests it with Neo (Testing) and finally the roof of the building is torn apart and the machines and robots steal the Matrix (Release and maintenance).

If you’re scratching your head now thinking: “Is this guy insane?” then this method probably doesn’t work for you, on the other hand, if you have faith in this system then make up a few stories of your course, doesn’t matter what they are, they just need to be personal and imaginative.

Top 10 PC Games – Best Storyline

2012-02-18T09:20:00.000+05:00

Putting games even from a single platform in order is too difficult. PC games have come a long way in terms of storylines. It seems like decades ago that the only thing players looked at was graphics, the puzzles or the senseless violence in the first person shooters. A lot of game series will be missed out from the list like Portal, Oblivion, Resident Evil, The Longest Journey, Fallout; it’s not that they aren’t good, it’s just that this is a top 10 list and it’s way too knotty to scrutinize and place them all in order so forgive my forgetfulness if your favorites aren’t in the list.

10. Tomb Raider
It came out to be the first third person shooter of its type, a strong independent orphan exploring historical locations and unraveling mythical artifacts and creatures. It used to be all about shooting and solving the puzzles with a hint of storyline to develop the Lara Croft character. Ever since Tomb Raider: Anniversary, the game packed in a huge element of Lara’s past, the clues his father left behind on his lifetime quest to search his wife, Lara’s mother. The story keeps on unveiling and ends at Tomb Raider: Underworld which is a sad end to the father-daughter’s quest; in parallel, Lara’s trusty butler and weapon handler also play an important part guiding her remotely from the mansion. I have been fairly surprised that the Tomb Raider series has still been underrated after refining the gameplay, storyline and graphics to a laudable level.

Deosai & Babusar in a VW Beetle - Day 2 (Part 1)

2012-02-16T21:26:00.000+05:00

So, the second day starts with us get up ordering a light breakfast and packing and loading the Beetle for the journey to Chilas. We had decided to stay the night in Dhasu but the hailstorm had changed our plan for us and now we had to make the most of the daylight. The drive was the same as ever, the rocky deserts, the heat, the dry mountains and the muddy Indus river going along with us. Going along such a monotonous landscape, which got less and less interesting by the hour we employed music, sleep and road games to pass the time. We still had no real plan; we could either drive till all the way to Astore or spend the night in Raikot and then set out for Astore the next day and we could go to Fairy Meadows on the way back from Rama. Interestingly the ten hour journey was not enough to make up our minds and finalize the plan.

Assassin's Creed 3 Release Date

2012-02-16T11:28:00.002+05:00

The creators of Assassin's Creed 3 have finally formally announced the next Assassin's Creed Game. This one will focus on Desmond Miles's character from where Revelations left off. The game is scheduled to be released in October 2012. A rumor is that the next Assassin's Creed's setting will be in World War II, however the storyline can be can be anywhere in the vast history so we can never know. Another rumor is that this can very well be the last appearance of Desmond but it will probably be not be the last game of the series.

Splinter Cell 6: Retribution Release Date

2012-02-15T20:37:00.000+05:00

The sixth installment in the Splinter Cell Series is scheduled for release during 2012; no other information is available as yet. The last installment: Conviction's release dates were changed multiple times when the developers decided to go back to the drawing board; Ubisoft probably took a good decision seeing Conviction was one of the best games in the series so no telling even Retribution's final release date will be confirmed.

Funny Car Stickers 2

2012-02-09T13:05:00.000+05:00

Death Trip: Chapter 13

2012-02-08T01:25:00.001+05:00

I was feeling faint when I realized that I had been holding my breath since I had recoiled and collapsed backing a wall. I exhaled taking in the complete picture and swiftly recalling what had just happened. A tall man stood in front of me, his eyes looked at me behind his rimless glasses, from his unshaven and tired face it looked like he had not slept for a while but his eyes were completely focused and alert. He was wearing an unfastened tie, his tall thin face complemented his height; the dress pants and the long lab coat seemed out of place on him, he looked like a trained warrior domesticated against his will. He reached out to Yahya and helped him up; Yahya’s shirt and harness was completely torn but we didn’t see any cuts on his chest when he lifted his shirt to assess his injuries.

“That was a close call” our savior spoke in English, a slightly German accent and a fitting grave voice for his physique told us that he was not from around here.

“You worked here?” Yahya still shaky asked.

“No, I didn’t work here until three days ago. It has been a long three days” he replied.

The only thing I could think about was escaping from the hospital; we were in no condition for any more surprises. “Everything okay in there?” Nadeem’s voice in my radio’s ear piece made me realize that they were still up in the building waiting for us to contact them.

“We will be coming out soon.” I replied.

Deosai & Babusar in a VW Beetle - Day 1

2012-02-06T17:44:00.000+05:00

Each of us gathered to the rendezvous point before dawn and loaded our luggage, tents, fuel cans etc. on the beetle. We were not sure about the weight distribution and everything went on top or inside the hood. At the break of dawn we were off! We stopped after half an hour to a tire shop to double check the tire pressure.

The break of Dawn

“Growing up” shouldn’t mean “Growing old”

2012-01-30T23:56:00.000+05:00

Growing up shouldn't be a consequence of growing old. I recently stepped out of the student life to enter the bottom of corporate chain and saw a world of difference around me. It wasn’t just because I was in a changed environment; I had to go with the flow. The can-do attitude, the energy and the little childishness that made everything fun was vanishing within me and my friends. As I clinked to what I once was like, I realized that while changing and growing up is indeed necessary, but our personal life doesn't need to change.

Chuck: Series Finale

2012-01-30T02:04:00.001+05:00

The American action-comedy television series: Chuck after five seasons has come to an end. It might not have been the most realistic spy drama in the world but it was highly entertaining. The story mostly revolves around the "Intersect" a million dollar supercomputer project that ends up in Chuck's head after which from an ordinary computer technician, he turns into an undercover spy.

Chuck becomes a excellent trained spy in the last season, going on missions without the intersect which is in Morgan and then later Sarah's head. The final season has been more spontaneous than ever, when Chuck, Sarah, Cassey and Morgan start a private firm, go bankrupt time and time again; and the married couple finds themselves pondering if the spy life would be best for them or for a possible family.

Chuck fans will be sad to see it end, but the finale was very well written. The last episode was filled with a lot of tears, a lot of goodbyes and a lot of hugs. Cassey the stone cold assassin hugged Gen. Beckman and Chuck! Chuck has the intersect again but alas we wont be able to see what he uses it for. Best of all Chuck's mother and Jefster makes one final appearance! The final scene wasn't bad either, Chuck telling the old stories to Sarah as they sit on the beautiful sandy beach like they did once before.

Deosai & Babusar in a VW Beetle - Teaser

2012-01-29T17:04:00.000+05:00

So a group of us friends decided that it would be fun to go on a road trip to the north...it is after all, one of the most beautiful regions of the country...
fair enough...lets do it...and while we are at it, why not throw in a VW beetle? and just to make things interesting, lets make it a 1200 economy bug...
hmm...still not quite there...what will be absolutely absurd I ask!!
the reply? lets take her to Deosai plains with an average height of 14,500 feet and Babusar pass at 13,000 feet(more or less) purely "Jeepable" tracks with mud, ice, glaciers, water crossings and lots and LOTS of rocks... NOW its interesting...lets go!!

Assassin's Creed Revelations: The End?

2012-01-27T22:46:00.001+05:00

Assassin's Creed has to be one of the best games in terms of game play, graphics, music, story line, especially the story line, but at the end of every game I find a burning curiosity that nothing can put out and then finally the next games comes, but the moment of truth comes and goes leaving more questions then ever before. So we now know about the visions passed through generations to Desmond Miles but there is a lot that we still don't know.

Before you read any further, let me warn you if you haven't played brotherhood or revelations till the end, you might not like the spoilers. The bomb crafting and the den protecting missions in revelations were really a nice addition but with so much stuff, hunting for Altair's memories, renovating the city, getting rid of the Borja, upgrading equipment, protecting the Assassin's Den and sending the brotherhood for contracts, the game seemed too short to thoroughly enjoy every detail.

Before I start on the story line, I would want to get to the unnecessary ending in brotherhood: what was the reason for killing Lucy? To me it was not sad, not dramatic, NOTHING! it was just pointless, everything was going fine and dandy, he got the message and suddenly BAM! Lucy dead! Well not that it matters now, what does matter is that now we know what happened to the very advanced human kind and what Desmond needs to do is prevent the history from repeating itself. At the end of Revelations, he says: "I know what to do" with his father standing besides him (maybe they just HAD!!! to replace Lucy with another character). So, what and how does he know what to do? When will the next game be released and will this finally be the end of it or can Ubisoft stretch the story anymore?

It is interesting to know who Desmond will be playing now; Assassin's Creed Embers - a short animation showing the last days of Ezio Auditore - confirms that there is next to no chance that Desmond will return to Azio's memories; it could be his son though, Embers has no specific mention of Ezio's son but it does show his two children in bed while we stands at the door watching them sleep with Sofia saying "I knew I would not have enough time to do everything; now I worry I do not have time to do anything."

I leave you to this trailer of Assassin's Creed: Embers. If you are a curious fan like me, this is a must watch.

Thundercats 2011 Season 2

2012-01-27T17:11:00.001+05:00

With the first season of the remake of the classic thundercats series where in the last episode, Lion-O and Tygra face the astral plane and themselves to find the stones, it is obvious that the story is far from ending. The moment that Tygra and Cheetra shared leaving Lin-O surprised and maybe devastated really ends the first season with a curious conclusion.

The second season has been announced but the air date hasn't been confirmed yet. With over a million and a half viewers its safe to assume it will not be delayed to long.

For more news Click Here.

Merlin Season 5 Release Date

2012-01-26T23:07:00.001+05:00

The season five of the British fantasy show Merlin is schedule for March 2012. The series is about the legend of the popular mythical wizard, his relationship with king Arthur and the story of his early life. The story is set in the age of kingship when he comes to stay with the court physician finding that the king has forbidden magic. The story has come a long way after the first season faced a difficult time staying on the top of the viewer list.

For more news Click Here.

Funny Car Stickers

2012-01-23T22:31:00.000+05:00

Here are some of the weirdest car stickers I've came across on the road.

pawa hai tau shawa hai

why I M so alone

If you are bad then I am your dad

Love is death!!

boys from UK!!

Hooting girls dig me out!

dont be impatience cutie I M to much

this is not a car sticker I know but its really fascinating to see a person go for such a sign on a helmet

not a good advice for the driver behind you

the spoiler is the thing to look at here.. makes your ride fast as a rocket!!

Eluveitie - Meet the Enemy Lyrics & Lyrical Video

2012-01-19T17:44:00.000+05:00

Eluveitie the Swiss folk metal/ melodic death metal band is planning to release their new album titled Helvitios this February. They have already released two of the singles on their website and on YouTube. The album in chronological order tells the story of the Gaulish wars and the devastation that followed.

Meet the Enemy Lyrical Video

These are the ominous shores of river saone
there at these shores the die has been cast
valor and honor were stripped off their meaning
we will not know innocence again

at somber nightfall the defenseless were beastly run down
saone stained with helvetic blood
you will not shake hands with arrant beliers
you rather die than turn into minions

freedom was our highest good
we ventured our lives
meet the liar
this dead black night
our destiny revealed
Meet the enemy
it will... never be the same

at these portentous shores of river saone
there at these shores the die has been cast
we saw the true face of the roman ravener
their gorgoneion on the cuirass appeared

it was like playing LUDUS LATRUNCULORUM
the pieces were made of flesh and blood
valor and honor bereft of their meaning
the blood on your hands will forever stay

freedom was our highest good
we ventured our lives
meet the liar
this dead black night
our destiny revealed
Meet the enemy
it will... never be the same

It's not us to go under the Yoke
of that fact the Roman people are witness
We will not bow

meet the liar
Meet the enemy

meet the liar
Meet the enemy

Eluveitie - A Rose for Epona Lyrics and Official Video

2012-01-19T17:20:00.000+05:00

Eluveitie the Swiss folk metal/ melodic death metal band is planning to release their new album titled Helvitios this February. They have already released two of the singles on their website and on YouTube followed by a lyrical video and official music video of their single "A Rose for Epona". The album in chronological order tells the story of the Gaulish wars and the devastation that followed.

A Rose for Epona Official Music Video

Do you feel the thorns?
Do you see the tears?
Do you see the bloodshed in this fell war?
Have you forsaken us?
Have you forgotten our faithful men calling your name?
While I stand before you while we parish
while I lay down a crimson rose
while holding hands are forced apart
while hopes bog like condemned men

Were you there?
the sky is falling on me
as your hands turning old and weak
I'm giving myself up to thee
a futile sacrifice gone sere

in your nemeton these gray stone walls
are cold and silent as the fallen
mother gone deaf
mistress of shattered hopes
and forever the broken dreams

Were you there?
the sky is falling on me
as your hands turning old and weak
I'm giving myself up to thee
a futile sacrifice gone sere

epo epo why hast thou forsaken me?
together we go unsung
into my hand i commend my spirit
together we go down with our people

Were you there?
the sky is falling on me
as your hands turning old and weak
I'm giving myself up to thee
a futile sacrifice gone sere

falling on me...

Death Trip: Chapter 12

2012-01-19T00:48:00.001+05:00

Logic and emotion both drives man forward; I had always been the kind that would listen to reason; every time strong emotion had driven me to do anything I had usually regretted it later. Not too long ago I had been really eager to jump on the opportunity to get the vaccination for the virus without thinking about the consequences but with Nadeem’s outbreak I found myself reconsidering and pondering over the things that could go wrong. “Maybe we need to think this through” I said approaching Nadeem who was already behind the wheel of the van ready to go.

“You were very keen a couple of minutes ago. You didn’t pick a very good time to change your mind” Nadeem replied his frustration was obvious at my sudden change of heart.

“It’s not that; we need to think this through and plan it before we do anything just like we have been doing” I reasoned.

CNG Loadshedding - A New Year's Gift from the Govt.

2012-01-02T16:05:00.005+05:00

Islamabad: Locals hit the roads in protests following government decision to increase CNG load-shedding to 4 days owing to increased nation wide gas shortage. The rage is intensified by the recent government decision to ban all import and installation of CNG cylinders in all vehicles. Citizens have further been given reason to celebrate this new year with an increase of Rs. 1.65 in petrol prices and while lines at CNG stations exceed well over a kilometer, petrol lines of well over 20 cars are forming too at the few pumps supplying the massive need. While public transport grinds to a halt and taxi fares touch the sky, the energy crisis has lead to serious unrest among the masses. With major roads including Islamabad highway, IJP road, mall road. Murree road and constitution avenue being blocked by the protesting masses, the city has ground to a standstill. With gas supplies cut to industries for the next month, the question stands: how long before the entire country follows suit.

Furthermore, CNG association of Pakistan goes on indefinite strike against increase in Gas prices also demanding that government revert its decision of four day gas holiday. Strike observed in Punjab, Baluchistan, KPK and the federal capital the first day.

Death Trip: Chapter 11

2011-12-31T21:46:00.001+05:00

We made it to the hospital very peacefully; as we got closer to the tall metal gates, the security guards in the elevated posts stirred and the gates opened up for us without asking any questions; seemed like the director had a well enough understanding with whoever was in charge. A uniformed captain greeted us when we got off the van as the gates were closed and secured again behind us.

“I’m afraid I have bad news” the captain said “I have just received a transmission from a large group of survivors coming this way escorted by the military and there aren’t enough supplies left to give away.”

Nadeem and I looking through the situation looked at each other. “Any chance those survivors are military officials?” it was Yahya who asked. The captain looking at us as if judging very carefully what to say next responded: “I won’t lie to you guys because from your bandages” he said glancing at me and Yahya “it looks like you deserve to know the truth. Yes, the people coming in are military officials and their families. We cannot give the vaccines to you guys because we have been ordered not to” he paused and exhaling loudly he concluded “and the headquarters want to keep a safe reserve.”

“So, the regular people die while the military personal are serviced?” Rehman said sarcastically looking away.

Subway Sub of the Day in Pakistan

2011-12-18T19:50:00.002+05:00

Monday - B.B.Q. Chicken
Tuesday - Chicken Fajita
Wednesday - Chicken Tikka
Thursday - Roasted Chicken Breast
Friday - Chicken Fajita
Saturday - B.B.Q. Chicken
Sunday - Chicken Teriyaki

SQL Server INSERT and UPDATE Query not working

2011-12-15T10:43:00.002+05:00

I recently came across an interesting problem while using SQL Server 2008 with Visual Studio 2010 while trying to execute the INSERT and UPDATE query. I was using LINQ and I was NOT using the static connection string; I was able to insert data manually using the "Show Table Data" option in the solution explorer and also using the SQL pane but when I used an INSERT query in my program and tried adding data during run time, I just couldn't add new data. Furthermore, the SELECT query was working perfectly fine.

After days of searching over the internet and debugging, I finally figured out what my problem was. Whenever I made any changes in the program, the new build created a new copy of the database file in the Debug folder and any previous data inserted through the program was lost. However the server explorer displayed the data in the project folder and any data added using a query in the program didn't not modify the database file in the project folder.

To make the explanation simpler, let me give you the actual example. The name of my project is "CHP Service" and the name of the database is "CHPDB".

The above image shows the place where the actual database object is placed. The solution explorer is showing the data of this file and NOT of the database file located in the bin/Debug folder.

The above folder shows the location of the generic connection string and the place where LINQ inserts to and fetches data from. A new copy of the database file is created each time a new build of the project is created.

You can change the path and force the solution explorer to show the data of the database file in the bin/Debug folder. However, this path is reset whenever you open your project in Visual Studio 2010.

Hope this helps anyone coming across this weird problem. If you have any more questions, please comment below.

Death Trip: Chapter 10

2011-12-14T23:40:00.001+05:00

We walked in darkness towards the beaten down Yahya; we had evaded many near death experiences making our way to the campus but he had gone halfway to the end and had managed to come back. “You lucky son of a gun” Nadeem said with a relived smile clasping Yahya’s shoulder. “Careful” Yahya said. It felt like a huge load was taken off my chest, I couldn’t remember the last time I had felt so relived, at the same time I shook the realization that out of so many people that lost their humanity there are bound to be some we know well. The security head came running with a first aid box in his hand and a chair in another. Yahya sat down and we settled on the pavement in front of him under the orange light as he told us about what had happened while the guard got to work examining him.

Death Trip: Chapter 9

2011-10-26T23:21:00.000+05:00

We made our way to the police check post that marked the start of Islamabad, and as we had thought it was deserted. During the normal days, there will always be a policeman there standing at the edge of the lane, staring suspiciously at the people inside the car making up his mind if the car should be stopped for a routine checkup. But today it was deserted; nobody could possibly be doing anything illegal that would be worse than what was already going on, the roads were completely clear. I turned on my radio and switched to the channel Hussain had told me about. “Can anyone hear me? We have just entered Islamabad and are proceeding to the H-11 sector.” The H-11 sector was where our university was located where we had planned to make our stop to eat and rest in peace. There was silence; I kept the radio on and waited for a response. After a few minutes I repeated the message and to our relief Hussain’s voice on the other end greeted us.

“Welcome back guys. Qamar and I have made it to the campus; but there is a little problem that might slow you down.” I heard an explosion in the radio and Hussain added after a pause “I’m sorry can’t chat.”
We all looked at each other; we had all heard the same thing. If there was an explosion, then it probably meant that there were zombies out there; we didn’t have much of a choice and Hussain had given us a warning but he had not asked us not to come to the university campus so we pressed on.

Getting to the final turn which would take us to the main gate of the campus Nadeem slammed the brakes and shook his head letting out a frustrated sigh, we saw another sea of zombies in front of us crowded around the main gate but their quantity was much less compared to what we had faced earlier but there still were enough of them to drown us and rip us apart.

“So, what now?” I asked “It’s too bright to pick a fight. We cannot get in there.”

Bones Season 7 Release Date November 2011

2011-10-15T22:38:00.000+05:00

The seventh season of Bones is scheduled for November 3, 2011. A crime drama about solving cases based on the remains of victims. It’s basically a forensics show in which a FBI team work on a separate case in each episode; it’s all that along with some very dark character developments.

Click Here for more news.

Death Trip: Chapter 8

2011-10-14T23:39:00.001+05:00

We finally made it to the interchange that led to the motorway. Our journey would be much shorter now; I hoped that we don’t meet another dead end like the previous traffic jams with empty cars. It was still dark outside, so we could try to enter the motorway without a fight.

"Thank God! Finally!" Nadeem sighed. We were all very tired, tired of the fighting, tired of running, tired of worrying about everyone at home. We just wanted to enter into the big city where everything might be better. We all wanted to go home, wanted for everything to turn back to normal, but at this point, normal was a little too much to hope for.

"Well this wasn't unexpected." Rehman said as we neared the toll plaza of the motorway, about a hundred cars, and buses were lined up; abandoned. The moon showing a glance every few minutes also seemed to be testing us. There weren’t many zombies in sight and we could avoid another fight if we use the pitch black surroundings to our advantage.

Steve Jobs: Stole from Xerox?

2011-10-08T12:50:00.000+05:00

Innovation is about bringing the idea to the World

Steve Job's death no doubt marks an end to the life and works of a true visionary. When we are all in the flow talking about him, discussing how important he is in the history of technology, there always are people who still would give the bitter remarks that Steve Jobs stole the idea of the Graphical User Interface that revolutionized the world of Operating Systems from a company called Xerox. If you have seen Pirates of the Silicon Valley then I don’t need to say more but if you haven’t, then you should know that Xerox were the inventers of a number of technologies that have shaped the I.T. industry. They produced the photocopy machine, graphical user interface and the mouse was also their idea. And if you're a programmer than you can understand the importance of this fact: they also were the first company to develop a programming language to use the model of object oriented programming. But they were not really successful in bringing those amazing inventions into the open world.

So, it maybe the truth that all his inventions weren’t really his own ideas but how does it make Jobs a visionary if he just copied ideas from all over the place presenting them as his own? Can he be called an innovator? Well the answer is pretty much in front of us. Innovation is not about just coming up with a new idea and waving it around for your friends to see that you’re really creative, it’s about working day and night to bring that idea and that product out for the world to see, to use and to benefit from it. He bought the invention of mouse from Xerox and brought it to the world, if it weren’t for him, we would still be typing in DOS commands. He brought the idea of digital music to the next level. I do still believe in the fact that Apple reels you in with their product and make you a part of their cycle so that you spending only on their stuff but I’m not going to talk about Apple right now.

Smart phones and smaller machines are so much more interactive only because it was for Job’s idea of inventing the most interactive phone yet but I know it had no customization options no real Bluetooth and the list of cons is too long but it gave BlackBerry, Google and all the other big names something to think about. He was the one that was driving all sorts of innovations. Time to say goodbye to the greatest inventor and innovator of the new world; he played a well enough part pushing the technology forward.

Mad Men Season 5 Release Date March 2012

2011-10-08T08:53:00.000+05:00

The next season of Mad Men after numerous delays has finally been scheduled for March, 2012. Mad Men is an American drama that has a 1960s setup focusing on cigarette smoking, drinking, feminism, littering, adultery and racism. It starts with representatives of a cigarette company coming to Sterling for a new advertizing campaign after a report that cigarette causes various diseases such as lung cancer. What’s more, plans for season six of mad men have also been made public.

Click Here for more news.

Thundercats 2011 Episode 9 Release Date

2011-10-07T12:11:00.000+05:00

Okay well this sucks, once they got the fan hooked to the new Thundercats animation, they decide to put that much delay releasing the new episodes. Well anyway, the next episode is aired to be released October 28, 2011. The ninth episode of the series will be titled "Berbils" and the 10th episode will be released on Novenber 4, 2011. Yup thundercats fans, we will have to wait about a month.

Click Here for more news.

One Tree Hill Season 9 Release Date

2011-10-06T20:21:00.000+05:00

Season 9 is scheduled to be released in May 17, 2012. One Tree Hill started of as a teen drama that starts with the rivalry of two half brothers in a high school basketball team and then later they start to bond as friends. The story makes interesting twists when one brother falls in love with the other’s girlfriend and the other falls in love with the first ones best friend. The story has come a long way since then, presenting strong character developments.

Click Here for more news.

Chuck Season 5 Release Date October 2011

2011-09-30T09:42:00.000+05:00

The fifth season of Chuck will be aired on October 21, 2011. Chuck is the story of an intelligent guy with the average job until a CIA database is embedded into his brain; that's when his life starts to get important with multiple intelligence organizations forcing him to cooperate needing the data in his head. The story has come a long way in the last few episodes when the database is extracted from his head and is accidently embedded into his best friend’s brain but before that Chuck battles to save his to be wife with nothing but his own bare fists and regular old brain.

Click Here for more news.

Death Trip: Chapter 7

2011-09-29T23:40:00.001+05:00

Nadeem fired a round, the gunshot echoing in the tunnel, I was sure it hit the zombie but apparently it had no damaging effect on the giant, instead we made him very angry. It roared; stepping towards us, his small face twisted in rage and then the next second, it charged at us; we started firing round after round pumping as much lead as we could into the monstrosity running towards us, Rehman patiently waited for it to come into his firing range. I was the first to run out of bullets in my magazine, I dropped the sub and pulled out the two pistols continuing firing, Nadeem and Yahya also followed suit. “Rehman! Now!” I screamed unable to bear his patience any longer. That thing was getting close, very close, dangerously too close; it raised his arms preparing to pound us but Rehman’s patience had paid off. Pumping four rounds from his automatic shotgun in the giant, added a lot of damage to the already battered mammoth and it collapsed right at our feet, Rehman pumped another few rounds in him just to be sure. We hastily reloaded our weapons waited if another such thing would show up.

“What happened to that zombie?” Nadeem said surprised.

“That wasn’t a zombie; that was a tank.” Yahya said.

Hellsing Ultimate Episode 8 Aired!

2011-09-29T19:01:00.003+05:00

Finally after what seems like an eternity the 8th episode of the OVA Hellsing Ultimate is out. I almost forgot the anime series was still scheduled for air and I'm sure a lot of fans gave up checking for a release date after it made us wait TWO whole years for the next episode. The last episode which was focused on Seras's battle in the mansion when Zorin dives deep into the minds of Sares and the mercenaries. Sares snaps out of it but looses her arm in the process. Bernadotte asks Sares to bit him and take his blood; Sares reluctantly and tearfully does so healing her wounds except her arm. There was no appearence of Alucard in the last episode which was kinda bummer but the character developements were still great. Now its time for the episode 8 featuring Alucard's return on land! The release dates of the next episodes are unannounced which isnt a big surprise.

On a side note "Hellsing: The Dawn" has been adapted into a animated series too and the first episode was released on 27th of July 2011. If you dont already know what "The Dawn" is, then this little side series will be really interesting for you. All I would say, is that it's a prequal to the original series.

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Will Facebook Start Charging?

2011-09-29T12:59:00.001+05:00

Firstly to answer the question very plainly: NO! It will not start charging. If we take a look at facebook's home page, it says: "It's free and always will be." If there was a chance that facebook will change all that and start charging it's users, it is very obvious that they will announce that on their main page because they have the control of their own homepage. The funny thing is how people without using even a single cell in their brain jump to the conclusion that your friend's email or status is a clause out of a law book; if youre not very used to the internet world then it's not a big deal if you thought this news was true but the same cannot be said about the people in front of computer screens day and night.

Even funnier still, I have my software engineer friends who have approached to a very high level of computer litracey and you will think that they will get the hint that it is just a spam chain and nothing else but nooo they jump right in the non-brain-using crowd. And then there are other chain messages too like on your hotmail accounts about hotmail going to charge you until you forward that particular message to everyone on your contact list. I dont know why such an obvious attempt to trick people into spamming their contacts can be so easy. So, next time you come accross such a message, take some time to think about the plausibility before jumping to conclusions, there are too many internet scams out there.

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Facebook vs. Google+: API Holds the Key

2011-09-22T11:57:00.000+05:00

We already have heard well about the new social network by Google, and this time it seems that Google isn't just on another experimental project that will be tucked away into Google labs. Most of us are already on it to see what’s so different about it and the rest are looking for an invite if they have the remotest interest in social networks.

How is Google+ Different?

The first thing that pops out is the Google+ circles, just like facebook has itself decided to make groups sorting your family, close friends, school buddies, and so on, G+ was the one that started this idea and nailed it with their very easy and graphical drag and drop feature. Circles will also make the privacy options easier because you need to sort out your friends in circle if you want to add them while you need to do this manually in facebook. Google+ hangout is another new feature where a group of people can gather together for a video chat and with that feature it made facebook berserk so it came with the chat panel that was the annoying new addition to the left of your screen that everyone wanted to get rid of.

House M.D. season 8 this September 2011

2011-09-22T07:26:00.000+05:00

The season 8 of House will broadcast on October 3, 2011. House runs the diagnosis department in a hospital; he takes only the most interesting cases that the other doctors fail to solve. House is asocial and very sarcastic, having no interest in his patient's or coworkers emotions. The new season will continue where it left of in the last season when House drives his car into Cuddy's dining room.

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Gossip Girl Season 5 this September 2011

2011-09-21T21:24:00.000+05:00

The season 5 of GG will be aired on September 26, 2011. Gossip Girl is teen drama based on a series of books. The drama is narrated by an unrevealed blogger that talks about the lives of mainly five wealthy young adults in their high school years each having a distinctive past and personality of their own.

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South Park Season 15 Release Date 2011

2011-09-21T21:21:00.001+05:00

The season 15 has not ended yet; the eighth episode will air on October 5, 2011. South Park is a 2D comedy series that is based on making fun on every social norm, every piece of art, literature or media. This bizarre comedy series seems never ending.

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Death Trip: Chapter 6

2011-09-17T00:50:00.001+05:00

We climbed down into the safe house; it was a big square concrete room that looked like it was extensively used. There was a bulb on the low ceiling above us, giving the room a gloomy yellow glow. Massive closets and crates were piled-up on our right that contained firearms, ammunition and preserved food. There were several sleeping bags on our right. If there were sleeping bag here, then it probably meant that this safe house was currently in use. There was a big table in the middle of the room that had files and folders untidily spread across giving an impression that this room had just been used for a briefing. Each one of us walked to a corner of the room that looked the most interesting to us. I walked toward the table, there was probably not much there that could help us but it was still wise to take a look. Going through several files that had official letters and information that looked useless, I found a neatly folded up architectural blueprint. It looked like it represented a complete plan of pipeline. "What did you find?" Rehman asked me coming to the table. "I'm not sure looks like a plan of fiber optics cables laid throughout the city or a network of manholes or something."

"How did they bring all this stuff in a closed room?” Nadeem said looking anxiously around.
"Through the-", Rehman stopped short. Nadeem was right, the crates, the closet, the table, most of the things here were too big to fit in the small tunnel we had entered from. I turned to the blueprint.
"Maybe, this is not a normal network of pipelines, I think this might be the architecture of a whole tunnel network underneath the city."
"The commander had no idea we would be able to figure that out when he trusted us with this location." Yahya said.
"This can be great." Nadeem said; all four of us were looking at the big sheet of paper that Rehman had unfolded and spread on the table. At that moment, something else caught my eye. A document that looked strangely relevant to what was happening. I took it and walked away from the table while the other traced a path safely out of the safe house.

Dead Lizard Found in Savour Food's Meal

2011-09-16T10:00:00.000+05:00

Savour Foods is a very popular brand in Islamabad and Rawalpindi; it has maintained its quality and price over the years which always makes it a choice in usual lunch options and day trips. It's quite difficult to find a table during lunch hours in the packed restaurant. The pulao has been the start of the big business but now it has expanded to fast food, ice cream and other stuff as well. If you're not from Islamabad or Rawalpindi, then you need to know it's somewhat a part of the culture now just like you go to McD, KFC or Pizza Hut for a hang out, the folks looking for the average everyday meal go for Savour Foods.

Recently a news has made its way to forwarded emails and facebook about a dead roasted lizard being found in a Savour pulao. The very first and natural response to this news would be disgust about something we have been enjoying for so long. But looking at the facts, several news sources at the same time are claiming that they found the lizard in their meal. We need to be open minded enough to acknowledge that there can be individuals who are just trying to knock down the business of the restaurant. It's not the first time such rumors have emerged. A decade back, an email went around telling people not to buy the big FMCG brands because they are using a potentially harmful chemical in their products.

Then there was the rumor of Lays using a food additive that was extracted from animal fat and people without thinking for even a second about why would PEPSI Co. being such a large brand would try to jeopardize their sales to thousands of Muslims by extracting the compound from pig's fat when it can be extracted from plants. So, it's quite possible that the same thing is happening with Savour; logically why would Lizards be dropping into food when temperatures on the stove are unbearable for reptiles; maybe they are looking for a change in diet.Interestingly multiple people found the same lizard at different places in their meal and all of them are news writers or bloggers; what are the odds?

In the end I guess it's up to us to make sense of this but before helping the rumors grow we should do a little research ourselves to check if the origin of the news is indeed reliable.

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New Season of American Dad this September 2011

2011-09-15T21:28:00.000+05:00

The seventh season of American Dad will begin on September 25, 2011. Another animated series by the creators of Family Guy that circles around the everyday life of the main character Stan who is a CIA agent and his family.

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New Season of "The Office" this September 2011

2011-09-15T10:18:00.000+05:00

The first episode of season 8 of The Office will be aired on September 22, 2011. A comedy show that centers on a regular office and employees, the comedy is somewhat improvised, using fairly simple camera angles and no laugh track at all.

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Season 5 of "The Big Bang Theory" September 2011

2011-09-14T23:35:00.000+05:00

The fifth season of The Big Bang Theory will start airing on September 22, 2011. What’s more, there are plans for two more seasons. The show is a sitcom about two genius roommates both scientists and their two friends: an engineer and an astrophysicist that often come over. Living across the hall is the waitress trying to pursue her dream of becoming an actress. The comedy is all about the contrast of the geekness of four guys and the active social life of their neighbor.

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New Season of How I Met Your Mother September 2011

2011-09-08T21:19:00.000+05:00

The seventh season of How I Met Your Mother is scheduled to be aired on September 19, 2011. A very successful comedy series; it’s all about a father's narration to his son and daughter of the series of events that led to the meeting with their mother; no word yet if Ted -the main character narrating the story- will finally be revealing the specific event about how he met his wife but the biggest and the most unbelievable news about Barney’s love life will be revealed.

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Vampire Diaries New Season this September 2011

2011-09-08T13:41:00.000+05:00

The Vampire Diaries will continue with its third season from September 15, 2011. It is a teen supernatural drama series that is based on a series of books having the same title. It focuses on the events in a town named Mystic Falls which is haunted by supernatural beings. A 17 year old girl Elena fall for a 162 year old vampire Stefan, but their relationship becomes complicated with Stefan’s brother’s appearance. Later on in the series both vampires start to show affection to Elena because of her resemblance with their past love Katherine.

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New Season of 90210 September 2011

2011-09-07T23:15:00.000+05:00

The season four of 90210 is scheduled for September 13, 2011. The series that redefined the prime-time teen drama back in the 1990s gets a modern makeover in this spin-off series centering on a family attempting to adjust to life in Beverly Hills after relocating from the Midwest to California and seeing their lives change in ways they never anticipated.

Upcoming Season Spoiler
The Beverly Hills group have graduated from high school. Naomi spent the summer dealing with the shocking news of her pregnancy, and she quickly realizess thatshe doesn't have the status at college that she did at West Beverly. Anniereceives some unexpected news that keeps her in town, and Liamreturns after his summer away from Beverly Hills ready to commit to Annie. Dixon struggles to finda roommate or a place to live, while a visitor puts a strain on Navidand Silver's relationship after they move in together. Adriannareturns to town looking for redemption, which she soon learns will be hard to earn back. Ivyand Rajstruggle to deal with his deteriorating health, while Teddyhas troublecoming out to his family.

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New Season of Glee September 2011

2011-09-05T18:38:00.002+05:00

The season 3 is schedule to premier this September 20, 2011. Glee is a musical comedy drama about a high school glee club. The story revolves around the member’s relations, social issues and competitions. Glee is unique mostly for its music and choreography.

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Death Trip: Chapter 5

2011-09-04T21:30:00.001+05:00

We sat in the Jeep in complete silence thinking of our next move; the only sound we could hear was of the engine calmly idling. We should have foreseen that we could end up at a road block; this always had been a busy road.

"We can turn back and head to the cantonment." Yahya suggested.
"I think we should get off here, we might find another road block on the way and we can’t risk stopping in a populous area." Nadeem said.

If only we had some way to communicate and find out what was going on at the cantonment, we would have a better idea of our options; all the mobile communication was out, making it impossible to contact anyone. If we stop to make a phone call in the shops we passed, we might get attacked and we could not be sure if there even were phones in those shops or if they were functional.

New Season of Supernatural Coming this September

2011-08-29T20:58:00.000+05:00

The season 7 of supernatural will start airing on September 23, 2011. A horror series about two brothers who hunt supernatural beings such as demons and ghosts driving from town to town; the series focus mostly on urban legends and the brother’s attempts to search for the truth. The original series has been in production for over ten years with its creator’s unsuccessful attempts to get viewership. It was finally recreated in 2005 following the same theme; its pilot episode was watched by more than five million viewers.

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New Season of CSI Coming this September 2011

2011-08-26T17:28:00.000+05:00

The 12th season of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is going to start airing at September 11, 2011. Crime Scene Investigation is THE most popular crime investigation drama. The investigation team uses the clues and evidence found on the crime scene using their own unbeatable intelligence to crack cases.

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Top 10 Old PC Games

2011-08-24T22:16:00.000+05:00

Parted from my gaming PC, I was stuck with a laptop carrying an Intel GMA graphics processor which made me think about having another go at the old games that I used to play in the early 21st century. If the games are old, then they need to have some kick to keep you going, and the story line usually is that kick. So, here is a list of games that you need to play again, if you find yourself with a PC with an old VGA.

10. Freelancer
The most underrated but one of the greatest games out there, in terms of its role play, multiplayer and gameplay. The story starts far in the future when mankind has abandoned the earth and settled in the Sirius sector which consists of many planets, and space stations, space travel is a necessary part of people's lives. Born in the new age, the main character Edison Trent is on the run from a security force after getting his hands on a strange artifact that everyone seems to be after. The story circles around his attempts to survive the journey to discover more about the ancient artifact. The player can choose from multiple ships and weapons during the game. The multiplayer allows the players to choose their role too from police to pirate and from trader to bounty hunter; it gives the chance of a superb role play. Open ended universe has more places and surprises than the player can ever think of; there have been several wikis made to give a record of the whole content the game has.

Thundercats is Back! New 2011 TV Series!

2011-08-23T10:41:00.003+05:00

Image via Wikipedia

Good news for all the Thundercats fans out there: the popular cartoon from our childhood is back. The original Thudercats seasons were based on comics and they were released between 1985 to 1989. Now, in the year 2011, a Japanese animation studio that goes by the name of 4° C have recreated the series starting off with the story of Thundera ruled by Lion-O's father who wields the Sword of Omens. Five episodes have been released till date; a new episode comes out each Friday.
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Drawbacks of Installing CNG in Cars

2011-08-22T10:20:00.026+05:00

"A view of a car destroyed in a CNG kit explosion near general bus terminal on Grand Trunk Road, Peshawar on Monday. The blast killed a newly-wed couple"

CNG and the Myth of Saving

With petrol prices raising day by day it is getting very hard for the average person to afford to commute on his own car. With cars averaging 13-15km per liter, a simple 15 kilometer commute comes at a cost of 87 rupees! The solution many have come up with is to use CNG; a compressed form of natural gas I like to call the fuel of Satan.

Let us take a closer look at this satanic fuel and in 9 steps I will explain why it is not the solution, but a problem in its own right.

Death Trip: Chapter 4

2011-08-21T22:19:00.001+05:00

We had been on the road for four hours. It was my turn on the wheel because I was the only one who had slept the night. I glanced in the car, all three of my partners in our little misadventure sleeping peacefully. Fortunately, we didn't come across any undead on the way; the road was empty as ever. Occasionally we would see a vehicle or a temporary police check post with armed guards who looked like they had no idea what was going on in Gilgit and further up north. It was midday when I took a little detour and entered Chilas city, the rest were still asleep and I decided to get the drug Hussain had told us about from a pharmacy. Chilas was a reasonable sized city so it bound to have a good pharmacy and looking at the roads, it didn't seem that the infection had spread till here because there was nobody on the streets at all; maybe everyone was at home barricading their houses. I took a turn and got off the highway into the city area. Driving for a while I came to relatively big supermarket which had a board that said that they had a pharmacy section in there. I stopped the car in front of the building and looked around. It was worth a shot; I grabbed my gun, eyed everyone in the car who were still fast asleep and got off. I walked to the entrance finding front door was open. I carefully entered the dark building, keeping my gun leveled just in case; lucky for us we had found flashlight extensions of our guns. I turned mine on and walked towards the arrow that pointed towards the chemist's section. I took another look at the name that Hussain had sent me on my phone. Reaching the pharmacy section, I grabbed some syringes and started looking for the drug. I had searched the whole section once before I finally found what I was looking for in a refrigerator. Good thing we were carrying an icebox, it will come in handy storing these I thought.

Top 3 Nail Color Trends for Winter 2011

2011-08-19T03:00:00.017+05:00

Nail colors have always been an inclination towards being completely styled out with major changes in fashion trends. To make your out do complete painted finger and toes can do wonders. In few months from now, freezing cold weather will strike out with major changes in the fashion fiesta. And one of the easiest ways of adding the edge to your wardrobe will be vibrant hues mixed with more subtle and mild shades. As, Color Blocking is the phenomenon for this year… make yourself inclusive by following the ‘it’ trends and you’ll be good to rock out the steam.

Top 5 comedy movies of 2011

2011-08-18T07:21:00.011+05:00

Bad Teacher:

Starring: Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake, Lucy Punch, John Michael Higgins, Jason Segel.
Director: Jake Kasdan
Release Date: 17th June 2011

Plot: Some teachers just don't give an F. For example, there's Elizabeth. She's foul-mouthed, ruthless, and inappropriate. She drinks, she gets high, and she can't wait to marry her meal ticket and get out of her bogus day job. When she's dumped by her fiance, she sets her plan in motion to win over a rich, handsome substitute - competing for his affections with an overly energetic colleague, Amy. When Elizabeth also finds herself fighting off the advances of a sarcastic, irreverent gym teacher, the consequences of her wild and outrageous schemes give her students, her coworkers, and even herself an education like no other.

Hunter X Hunter is back!

2011-08-16T23:02:00.000+05:00

Good news for the anime fans! Hunter X Hunter is back with a completely new creation and adaption of the manga. In the last episode of the anime, Gon finally got out of "Greed Island" edging closer to finding his father. Read my Top 10 Anime Reviews if you aren't familiar with this awesome anime.

The word about Hunter X Hunter's return came from a news campaign covering book stores in Japan. The new season will be a complete recreation of the manga and will not start where the OVA left of. It will start airing this October. Can't wait!!

Top 7 howlers to avoid in an interview

2011-08-16T22:09:00.014+05:00

All that hard work sending out resume has finally paid off and you’ve been called in for a face-to-face job interview. Congratulations! This is an important next step in your job search. It’s also your only chance to make a lasting first impression.
So you surely don’t want to mess things up. Here is a list of some common mistakes that people make in an interview which seriously needs to be avoided.

1) Casual Dress and a bad odor:
How you present yourself is one of the most important things. It is said that: “first impression is the last impression”, Hence and your physical appearance can speak volumes to someone who is meeting you for the first time. Even if you know that the company’s environment is casual, don’t sabotage yourself by wearing casual clothes to an interview. A business suit is by far the safest choice for an interview.

Bringing a strong odor into an interview can be very distracting. Don't wear any perfume or smoke a cigarette right before your interview. You never know what kind of allergies the interviewer may have and this is not a great way to find out. Try not to smell like anything so your interviewer can concentrate on you instead of the smell.

BlackBerry Bold 9900/ 9930: Pre-Release Review

2011-08-16T16:38:00.005+05:00

BlackBerry has revealed its plans for the new BlackBerry Bold which is thinnest BlackBerry yet. It comes with the ever so favorable QWERTY keyboard and also with a touch screen. Getting the first look, it’s the same as the old Bold 9000, a chrome strip going around the whole phone, the big keypad that is slightly bigger in the 9900. So, what’s new other than the touch screen and why choose a BlackBerry that has a smaller touch screen than Storm and Torch?

The Refined Contact
BlackBerry is going for a lot of changes to make the user experience more fun. The 9900/ 9930 will come with a 2.8'' touch screen with the new OS 7 in which they redid everything related to the interface calling it "Liquid Graphics" capable of giving the user an easier and lively detail. Along with that, it comes with accelerometer and magnetometer (digital compass) sensors that will surely give room to a lot of fun apps and games.

Pakistan- "The mocking name"

2011-08-14T10:26:00.009+05:00

“Pakistan- The land of the pure. But what exactly is there that is pure here? Corruption, murder, crime, bloodshed and bomb blasts all around me. What is it that Pakistan has given me? Why should I, a victim of all that is wrong with the country, say that I love it? This country has given me nothing. A mere identity. That too of a criminal, a terrorist. I have to face hardships and have to turn a blind eye to the wrong if I want to survive here.”

This sadly is an all too common thought present in the youth of today.

What has Pakistan given me? Why should I love it? Why should I be proud of it and why should i celebrate?

The Rapidly Declining Education System in Pakistan

2011-08-12T17:34:00.005+05:00

More and more parents have stopped believing in the Pakistani education system and are sending their children abroad and switching to foreign education systems if they can afford them. The reputation and the standard of government controlled schools is declining rapidly, be it the results or the grooming a child gets.

Gone are the days when students had the utmost respect for their teachers. We always hear our parents and grandparents telling stories of their teachers and how their good education was just because of their efforts. Interestingly these days students call the teachers by their first names while talking about them. I would agree that the new generations have less respect and patience and being formal is just not "cool" anymore. But is this the only thing that is wrong?

Acer Aspire One ZG8 Netbook Review

2011-08-09T18:11:00.004+05:00

If you want a handy netbook that is light weight, small in size and packs everything that you need from any regular notebook, then this is the machine for you.

The Acer aspire ZG8 with its smooth dark look and a glossy 10.1TFT weighs only 1.1kg so you won’t even feel the weight packed in your bag. It is a durable machine too so you don't need to worry all the time to make sure it’s not sandwiched between a pile of books. Its keyboard is comfortable enough for its size and the multi-touch ready touchpad makes scrolling and zooming much easier. In short it is perfect for carrying it around all the time.

It comes with WiFi and Bluetooth technologies, meaning instant connectivity anywhere let it be internet or other mobile devices. It also comes with two SD card slots, one of which is especially provided for instant expansion of storage space, so if a 160GB hard disk drive doesn't always work for you and you don't want to go into the hassle of opening the back, plugging in a new hard drive and installing all software again, you can easily plug-in a SD card and voila! Instant storage supplement!

Death Trip: Chapter 3

2011-08-07T23:32:00.007+05:00

When I came about, I was in the garage Nadeem had told me about. There was something banging against the shutter; probably a zombie. I was in a lot of pain.

"Take this", Nadeem handed me two tablets, "These will help"

I popped the pills and drowned them with the water he handed me. "You were bitten; we managed to kill the zombies and drag you here. The shutters will keep them out if they don't have more strength than an average human."
"How many more were there?” I asked weakly.
"We didn't count", Yahya replied.
"You- your wounds hurt?"
"No, they are fine now. And I feel fine too."
"I guess you will be fine. The virus spreads very quickly. If you had been infected you would have turned into a zombie."
"You relax and rest for now.” Rehman suggested.

Nadeem had already brought a mat and a sleeping bag that he placed next to me. I laid down on top of it keeping my neck straight. After what felt like several hours I woke up to my phone ringing. It was Hussain another one of my class mates.
"Yeah?” I answered.
"How are you? Having fun in Gilgit?” he jokingly asked.
"Not funny Hussain. I got bitten"
"No way! You did? That's bad. But you still have a good change you might survive."
"How do you know that?"
"There has been a leak in information from the source."
"Source?"

Read more »

Top 3 places to get your kurtas from this Eid

2011-08-05T04:31:00.026+05:00

Khaadi:

Price Range: 1500-4000
Khaadi men: if you are looking for vibrant, energetic and effervescent colors, Khaadi is the place for you. You enjoy a sensual variety of textures and colors and pick out a style that creates your very own personal statement. Whether you desire raw, practical or neutral tones, or you want to communicate your eccentricity with bold colors and designs, pick your own personal look from a wide range of kurta shalwar in different design and sizes. The wide range of Kurtas, including formal wears as well as short trendy kurtas for men, makes sure that there is always something there that suits your personality. Acknowledged for its stunning blend of yummy colors, full of joy, texture, and hottest styles in the purest cottons that detain the minds and hearts of people in its bizarre vibes, Khaadi aspires to revitalize the ritual of hand woven fabric, which has been an essential part of rich textile of life in the East, into a solid new market.

Location:
ISLAMABAD: Shop No. 1, 2 & 3 Ground Floor, Mount Plaza, Plant No. 16/A, F-6
Phone: 051-2827656

Top 10 Anime Series Reviews and Rating

2011-08-03T18:20:00.009+05:00

1 - Death Note
Tags: thriller, mystery, fantasy, supernatural

This is the kind of show that is recommended to people who don't watch or hate anime. Once you see the part where the mass murder Kira that makes his victim's deaths look like an accident faces a direct interaction with the world famous detective "L", you can never go back. And once you finish watching this anime, you have already surrendered to the millions of anime fans out there. It doesn't seem that this show can be knocked off the top 10 ratings anywhere anytime soon.

2 - Full Metal Alchemist
Tags: alchemy, action, adventure, drama, fantasy

Two kids experiment with the biggest taboo in alchemy: human transmutation to bring their dead mother back to life; they fail and in the process one of them loses his whole body except his soul and the other loses an arm and a leg. From there the story focuses on them searching all over for the mythical philosopher’s stone to get their bodies back. The story line is brilliant and the characters are pretty impressive; there also is a fair share of humor and drama. It has two seasons, the second one named "Brotherhood" that isn't a continuation of the first, it has a different story altogether. The FMA movie titled "Conqueror of Shamballa" focuses on the after story of the first season.

3 - Code Geass
Tags: drama, mecha, science fiction

Britain has taken over Japan robbing it of its identity, even its name. The few who stand against the new government are executed. A young Britain high schooler obtaining a mysterious power decides to bring a change by leading the rebellion. Two seasons have already been out with rumors of a third. Just like Death Note, Code Geass too has an excellent plot and the way the story has been carried out and the manner in which the main character's tactics are revealed to the viewer are absolutely incredible. This is really worth watching where ever your interest lies unless you completely hate mechas.

4 - Monster
Tags: drama, horror, mystery

If I could I would make a complete TV series out of this one. It has absolutely no aspect of fantasy that you see in almost any anime out there and that what makes it perfect if you want to watch something that doesn't pack in elements of science fiction or super natural for a change. It is the story of a Japanese brain surgeon that when faced with an ethical dilemma of choosing between operating on the town mayor or a child that came in the hospital emergency room first decides to do right thing. He saves the child's life but is later haunted as the life he saved continues to take lives of many innocent people. It's then that he quits his career and sets out on a journey to correct his mistake.

5 - Gungrave
Tags: action, science fiction, drama

Despite it being an old animation and lacking the quality of graphics that the new ones pack, this simply cannot go any lower in the rating because of its story. The plot focuses on two guys as close as brothers who live a difficult life on the street, aiming the highest. They decide to join the mafia and work their way to the top. What happens along the way and after is a true test of their friendship.

6 - Hunter X Hunter
Tags: action, adventure

Based on the manga, the story is about a young kid named Gon whose father left him when he was only a baby. To find his father, he decides to give the test to become a hunter. Hunters are the most talented people that have expertise in a wide range of things and after passing the test they get special privileges where ever they go around the world. On his journey to find his father, Gon makes some extraordinary friends each with their own unique life story and reasons to become hunters. Having more than a hundred episodes in total, it still needs more seasons before you can get enough of Gon's adventure.

7 - Blood+
Tags: action, supernatural, drama

Saya leads the life of an ordinary school girl oblivious of her past completely because of amnesia. Her blissful life rapidly changes when she is attacked by a monster called "chiropteran". Later she finds out that only she can defeat those monsters using her blood. Then on she learns about the reason of chiropteran's existence; the deeper she goes into her difficult journey, the clearer her past becomes. The story throughout the whole series develops intensely. A movie inspired by Blood+ was launched in 2000 but I won’t recommend watching it, not unless you watch the anime anyway as the story is nothing like the anime.

8 - Full Metal Panic
Tags: mecha, action, drama, comedy

Sousuke Sagara an Afghani freedom fighter since childhood; he works for a secret anti-terrorism organization. He is given the assignment of protecting a high school girl Kaname Chidori who is believed to have the power of "Whispered" a special human being that is born with extraordinary untapped knowledge that even they themselves are unaware of. Trying to blend in regular school life while trying to keep the Whispered subject under protection proves to be a very difficult task for Sousuke Sagara who has never been on an assignment out of the battlefield. The three season long series packs a lot of humor along with action showing the main character making a lot of blunders trying to fit in the regular teenage community.

9 - Claymore
Tags: fantasy, action, drama, horror

The world is infested with monsters called Yoma. An organization with an unknown name that the human beings call claymore, is formed to create and train female warriors to fight against the Yoma. The warriors are called the silver eyed witches by the people based on their appearance. Clare one of the claymore warriors saves a young orphan boy that fascinated by the claymore tags along. Clare starts getting more difficult assignments where she has to part her way with the boy until she battles with previous members of the organization that drunken by power lost control of their own selves.

10 - Hellsing
Tags: action, horror, supernatural

In a world where both humans and vampires live, the organization hellsing is the strongest when it comes to eradicating the vampires. Ironically the hellsing's most powerful weapon is a vampire himself that goes by the name of Alucard. In an assignment, Alucard offers a dying police officer Sares Victoria another life by turning her into a vampire, she accepts after which she too is made the part of the hellsing organization. Helling and Hellsing Ultimate are two seasons in which the organization battles with different types of vampires. If you like senseless action, this is the perfect anime for you.

Special Mention - Guyver: The Bio-boosted Armor
Tags: action, horror, science fiction

Even though this is a top ten rating, I still want to mention this particular anime which are my personal favorite; it would have been biased to cut its place in the top ten hence the special mention. It is the story of a teenager named Sho who one day on his way back home bumps into one of the three alien units merging with which he equips himself with a special armor called the guyver. There after he learns about the secret organization called Chornos that is secretly experimenting to convert human beings into monsters to take over the control of all the main countries of the world. Trying to run and defend his friends from the organization, he meets with another guyver that uses him to pursue his goal of destroying chronos.

So, this is it guys, if you think an anime that should have been in this list has been left out please comment below!! Trust me if you haven't seen any one of these series, you really really need to!!

Ramzan Iftar Deal (2011)

2011-08-02T17:42:00.004+05:00

Pizza Hut

Offer: All you can eat including: Pepsi, Salad and Pizza (Pan Pizza: Chicken Tikka, Afghani Tikka, Chicken Fajita and Hot & Spicy)
Price:
• Rs. 699/- for the first 15 days of Ramadan.
• Rs. 799/- for the last 15 days of Ramadan.
• Rs. 599/- for kids under 10 years of age.
The prices mentioned above are exclusive of taxes.

McDonalds

Offer 1: McChicken, 4 pieces of Nuggets, Regular McFries and Regular Drink with Free Refills
Price: Rs. 299/-

Offer 2: Spicy McCrispy, 4 pices McWings, Regular drink with Free Refills
Price: Rs .399/-

KFC

Offer 1: 1 Zinger Burger, 1 Chicken Piece, 1 Regular Fries, 1 Regular Drink
Price: Rs. 400/-

Offer 2: 9 pieces of chicken with 1.5L drink
Price: Rs. 1050/-

Hardees

Brain Drain: Who is Responsible?

2011-08-01T23:46:00.010+05:00

“Magar woh ilm ke moti kitabein apne aaba ki
Jo dekhein un ko Europe mein tou dil hota he si-para”
(Iqbal)

Is Pakistan that terrible that people will do almost anything to get an American visa? Is this the reason that Muslims of the subcontinent stipulated a separate homeland? Is this the Pakistan our ancestors sacrificed their lives for so that after 64 years, the Muslims of the so called “fort of Islam” are escaping from it as a scheme of deliverance in life?

If you go out and ask most of the educated Pakistanis what they want for their future, a majority of the talented individuals will answer that they want to settle down in America. Pakistanis, especially the professionals, have been leaving the country at an alarming rate in the last three decades as they look for opportunities and benefits outside of their home country.

Over the past few decades, especially since Pakistan has been facing staggered stifle into the political, economical and security chaos, the observable fact of brain drain has developed into the pest of the society. The number of endowed Pakistanis who wish to settle abroad is rising every year. To leave the country and to settle abroad has become the zeitgeist of the present day.
Alas! Either the government of Pakistan does not apprehend the brutality of the hitch or they prefer to hide it under the proverbial mat like many other important issues. The fact is that workers from all skill levels are losing or have completely lost faith in the economic future of the country. And yet again our government is paying no heed towards this significant issue.
This is indeed horrible that a medical graduate starts his career with Rs 6,000 salary in Pakistan, which is equivalent to the salary of a watchman. Despite the fact that 17-grade salary is recommended for a doctor, there is no implementation.

I am totally in the favor that the government should take proper measures if it wants to stem the issue of brain drain. It should provide good job opportunities to workers based upon their skills but I am also of the view that government alone is not responsible for all this. The responsibility lies on us as well.

The most sardonic aspect is that the very citizens who repudiate to execute and actually feel embarrassed to do any type of labor in Pakistan actually end up working as waiters, cashiers or at a petrol pump. For them I believe dollar supersedes their patriotism, relations and acquaintances they have left. Wealth and repute overshadows soul’s integrity. Is this a life of happiness? Is money the only motivating power, does being a Pakistani means nothing to you?
Whilst the present dilemma of the motherland makes me gloomy, it still at some part contains hope for the future. And I believe that this is the hope due to which many Pakistanis wake up each day in the morning, all set to wrestle the fanaticism and terrorism. If we were to work hard in our own country and build opportunities for our future generations and keep the conviction of functioning abroad away, the panorama of a revolution cannot be ruled out. We need to stand up and work for the integrity and prosperity of our country and provide better opportunities for the future of Pakistan.

“Paiwastah Rah Shajar Se Ummeed-E-Bahar Rakh”

Death Trip: Chapter 2

2011-07-29T19:09:00.005+05:00

The lady reciting the news dead calm as ever told us about the doomsday that had befallen upon us. It looked like a disease had spread in all the major cities. "Any weapons that the citizens use against the infected people will be confiscated. The police force and the army are working together to bring the diseased to hospitals to treat them in isolation. If any citizen comes in contact of an infected, he is strongly advised to report to the nearest hospital. We urge you to stay calm."

"We need to get you to a hospital", I told Yahya.
"We might get attacked again if we go out.” Yahya repied.
"Let's get the car, and get going, two of us can stay here and keep trying to contact the police and finish with the packing and one of us can take Yahya to the hospital", Nadeem suggested.
"Fine, you two go ahead. I will be here with Rehman and keep you updated if there is more information on the news."

Nadeem grabbed the shotgun and the guard's belt with the shells and headed to the door.

"Keep the gun hidden, we will need it. Don't let the police see it", Rehman warned. Nadeem gave a stiff nod and headed out.

I reached for my cell phone to call home and check to make sure if my parents and friends were safe. Wireless communication that we take for-granted really helped out in a lot of situations. Getting news from home, it seemed the government called an emergency in the cities and everyone was either at home barricading the entrances or was on their way to do the same. It seemed that the disease had been widely spread because the friends that I contacted had seen infected people on the streets while rushing to their homes.

"I just got a text from a friend", Rehman said his eyes still on his cell phone. "He says that there is an infected person banging on his door and the police are not taking any calls on its emergency lines"
"They already have their hands full with the mass breakout of this strange disease"
"Yeah"

We had everything well sorted and packed and we were still watching the news. We had given up on the police; there was no way they had enough men to send to the hotel. There were no further updates on the news, or quite possibly they were holding information to avoid panic. My hunch was confirmed when Yahya and Nadeem returned. We let them in and safely closed the door behind them. Yahya still had the same bandages which probably meant that the nurses might him given him the insulin in a hurry.

"It's insane out there", was the first thing Nadeem said, "There are police prison vans at the hospitals and they are rounding everyone up that has been infected or has come in contact with those things. And by contact they mean scratched or bitten."

"Prison vans? Are they short of vehicles?” Rehman asked.
"Probably; and they are also locking up the infected. We never entered the hospital. Can’t send Yahya to jail."

At that moment Yahya's phone rang. Nadeem moved forward and asked for the progress on the packing and any updates. When Yahya hung up there was a grim expression on his face. "It was my friend whose father is that general in the army.” we kept looking for him to continue knowing who he was talking about, “I just got know some information that they are not sharing with people. They don't have any cure about the disease. All they know is that the infected people crave for flesh. It only spreads if you get scratched or bitten but that we already know from the police rounding people up."

We all looked at each other. What are we going to do when Yahya starts to lose his mind. "Not all people are getting infected though; they can’t explain that either."

"Then we can only hope and pray that you fall in that percentage-", Nadeem sighed.
"Let’s start loading the car. We need to get back somehow. We will start off in the morning and cover all the distance we can.", Rehman said.
"We cannot reach home before night fall. No hotel is going to take us in; it’s pretty bad outside."
"We don’t know if the situation is the same in the cities we are going to pass. They said that only major cities have been affected."
"We cannot trust the mass media right now, they are holding information and maybe they didn't reach the smaller cities to help them yet."
"I still think we should make a run for it.", I argued, "For all we know the situation might get worse each day and we are safest in a large city where they might be able to provide some security"
Nadeem exhaled. "We need to have multiple plans for what we are going to do."
"I think I know something we can begin with", Yahya responded. "First thing we need to do is to get weapons and medical supplies."
"And food", Rehman added.
"Weapons? You do realize they are not allowing people to use even licensed weapons. We are going to be in jail if we keep illegal weapons", I tried to reason with him.
"Yahya is right. We do need weapons. The authorities cannot protect us and we don't want to become like those monsters. Do we?” Nadeem looked at me.
"Right then, weapons and medical supplies. Where do we go to get them? Everything is closed and we don’t have nearly enough cash left to buy weapons."
"Let’s make most of the confusion", Nadeem replied.
"Yeah, and I know a place where that we can get everything we need without attracting too much attention of the police or the zombies", Yahya suggested.
"Let's load the stuff on the car. We have no idea if we can come back here to pick all this up", Rehman gestured at the packed luggage.
"Agreed.", Nadeem affirmed, "Let’s get there before it gets dark, we have less than two hours."

We suppressed the concern for state that Yahya was in, either he would get infected or he won’t; only time could tell. I stood guard near the car while Yahya and Rehman loaded up and Nadeem filled up the jerrycans with fuel from other cars in the parking lot. "Desperate times calls for desperate measures", he had said when I had looked at him questioningly. It took us a while to get everything set and proceeded for the place Yahya had probably discovered several years back when his father was transferred to Gilgit for two years. Nadeem was on the wheel while Yahya was giving him instructions from the front passenger seat. He looked well enough, hope it stays that way I prayed silently.

Getting to the first intersection, we finally discovered how bad the situation was outside the hotel. I was wrong when I said that the situation could get worse every passing day; it was probably getting worse every passing hour. Even Nadeem and Yahya looked surprised which probably meant that condition had escalated in a very short time. Even the police officers looked like they had been infected. Nadeem was picking up speed continuously; he didn't stop and didn't wait for anyone to move out of the way which made us hit a lot of people or the undead beings painfully. The scene outside the car window was unreal, people pointlessly roaming around, dead bodies on the road in massive numbers. It seemed that the people that didn't get infected got eaten. Occasionally an undead creature would charge towards the car either missing or hitting it hard and falling back. It felt like I was in a movie or an altered reality.

It took us twenty long minutes to get to the place during which we witnessed the most horrifying scene ever. The place that Yahya brought us to looked like a small market with a tall boundary wall around it. It looked like the zombies didn't know how to climb walls yet so as long as we covered the entrance we would be safe but hopefully we won’t need to stick around for that long. We had only one pump action shotgun with a few shells apart from that each of us had knives but melee fighting with a zombie was not a good idea. We drove slowly around the shops there checking if the area had any zombies. We found only one which I this time calmly went to and blew his head clean off. I had never thought we would ever be able to use firearms this easily. After making sure that we were alone, we went to the entrance again and I dropped off with the shotgun wearing the belt with the shells across my shoulder. We had decided to break in all the shops we could and take the things we needed first. “Then we will gather at the garage that we saw at the back”, Nadeem had explained before I got off, “We will call you when we are done and you can come join us then. If something goes bad, we will gather at the garage as soon as we can; do not try to be a hero.” “Of course”, I replied.

I stood waiting at the entrance. It wasn't going to be long before sun goes down after which it was probably a suicide mission to stand out in the open and there was no way the others will be done before dark. I clenched the shotgun tightly looking all around me for the slightest movement jumping at every unimportant sound. By dark I was getting really jumpy and scared; not being able to bear anymore mental torture, I called up Rehman who told me that they still had a lot of things to pick up and shops to check out. Disappointed, I sat down with my back on the wall. I had spent this much time without an incident, I was sure I could handle it.

The sun had completely disappeared. The only thing piercing the darkness was the moon light. I took out the flashlight I was carrying in case I needed it but didn't turn it on because it was very probable that it might attract too much attention. I dismissed another sound that sounded like a footstep. The second one was closer. I jumped up pointed the gun at the place where the sound had come from but couldn't make out anything in the darkness. I took a step forward and turned on the flashlight. Three terrifying men stood right in front of me. They growled loudly; blinded by the light in their eyes they had given me an advantage. I took aim and shot two of them and dashed back inside my hands shaking. I had to reload before killing the third zombie; I had already injured it which meant that I had enough time to reload. The others should have heard the gunshots; I hoped that they were done with the shopping. Loading the five shells, I stood up and again used the same strategy and got the third that was already injured and lying on the ground. I relaxed my arms and lowered my gun examining the three bodies in front of me. Letting my guard down then had been the worst mistake I made that night. Something pounced on me from behind and I fell on my chest knocking the air out of me. I rolled over pointed my gun at the darkness, it was too late, whatever that thing was, it had buried its teeth deep in my neck, I screamed in pain, it felt like a burning acid in my neck was corroding my flesh. I felt faint because of the pain. Through blurry eyes, I saw two flashes of light that probably belonged to a firearm. After that everything went blank.

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Read Chapter 3

PTCL EVO WiFi Cloud: A Review

2011-07-28T21:46:00.008+05:00

PTCL (Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited) has come up with a new and an innovative product for their customers to make most of the 3G internet: the WiFi Cloud. It is a pocket sized device that PTCL describes as “about the size of a few credit cards stacked together” which gives you the option to connect wirelessly and what’s more is that five users can use it over their WiFi connections at the same time.

Do you need it?
There are only two frequent internet users at my home that had me spending Rs. 4500/- for a WiFi router. Having only a 1Mbps connection, it always causes degradation if even one tries to stream a video. This is the case with every other home now-a-days and what’s more, now every little device uses WiFi, your phone, your mp3 player, your tablets and if you own a laptop, you should have the liberty of sitting anywhere you want and still have a net connection. This device is pretty good at sharing a 3.1Mbps connection over a 10 meter range.

Best of all if you always need to put your dongle at some specific place at your home for it to get a good signal strength, this can be pretty nifty for you. Plus all the normal internet dongles are great if your are the only one using them but when you need to share, that’s when you feel the need of something more in your cyber life.

Solves all your Internet problems?
Starting with the device cost, its Rs. 7000/- but that’s only the initial payment, and for that cash, you get a broadband modem and a WiFi device all in one. At this point you may say “Big whop, that’s just an expensive ADSL router” which is true but does your router give you a 4 hrs average battery time and can you carry it in your pocket? The WiFi Cloud carrying a battery is pretty useful if you need internet where ever you land and if your shared internet in your office/ university isn’t fast enough and your siblings hogging the DSL modem at home doesn’t work for you then this device is pretty useful.

Talking about the internet speeds, 3.1 Mbps at Rs. 2000/- monthly is pretty good seeing you still get around 1Mbps at around Rs. 1200/- even in a lot of fixed line broad band providers. And getting the bill along with your PTCL phone’s bill is the best thing of all if you don’t handle the expenses around your house. But there still aren’t any promises that this device will give you complete 3.1 Mbps; the signal strength and in-turn the speed drops according to your exact location in a room and according to the number of users, so your locality will play a huge part in the share of bandwidth you will get.

Replacement for a typical router?
I won’t be very sure about you but for me there are some things it cannot provide, like e-gaming on LAN (Local Area Network). This little device packing two radios in one little casing can’t possibly provide the speed you need for that. Furthermore if you need to frequently transfer data between the computers connected to the LAN, then this little thing won’t cut it. As good as it is for internet usage, it cannot replace a router’s speed.

Routers have good enough signal strengths to cover a typical home well enough so if we are talking about giving people internet in their own separate rooms, this device can’t promise much when it comes to putting signals through walls; being a standalone device, you cannot do much about the range so if you won’t mind being huddled together in a single room with your siblings for your fair piece of the internet, then you are going to be just fine. Moving on, five is the limit for this device so no further explanations needed here if you need more connectivity.

So, bottom-line, if you don’t involve yourself frequently in LAN parties or if you already have a router for that, then this gadget works for you and because we all hate load shedding, this mini-router still works as long as your laptop’s battery.

Click Here for more views and reviews.

Death Trip: Chapter 1

2011-07-26T21:23:00.006+05:00

It was cold afternoon. I along with three of my class mates was sitting in a hotel lawn. I was glad that I was able to join them in this trip. I really needed the break after graduation before starting off my everyday drill at a job. After a long and tiring travel, we had decided to take a day off traveling; we cleaned up and sat down just talking. We had reached Gilgit. We had only planned one more stay for the night in another hotel on the way before reaching back home.

It had been the third time that I looked at the gate keeper standing lousily slouching under the weight of his shotgun. He looked very pale. Perhaps he was just tired; they only have one guard who is always working full time. The hotel management should really give the poor man a break. I brought my attention to the conversation which was about the maintenance the Jeep will need when we get back. We were driving a 1970 Jeep Wagoneer that was restored just for such a trip. It had a 3.5 liter diesel engine which gave us all the power we had needed throughout the long stretches on muddy tracks. Having no real insight to offer in the conversation, I glanced at the guard again. Something was wrong, he had now dropped his shotgun and with his mouth gaped open looked like he was moaning. Slowly he started walking towards us. I stood up waiting for him to approach us. Maybe he really did need help. Yahya looked at me questioningly and following my glance leaned forward wondering. Nadeem and Rehman continued discussing a list of car parts that would have helped if we had them.

The guard's pace started to get faster, coming in a few feet I could hear that he was moaning audibly, his eyes were unfocused and his teeth looked like they were deformed. Funny, I don't remember him needing braces when we walked in the hotel just this morning. Yahya stood up and stepped in front of me. What happened next was something we could never had anticipated. The guard pounced on him digging his finger nails into his arms and taking his mouth closer to his neck as if trying to bite his flesh off. Yahya gasped in pain. I leaped forward and tried to push the guard away but he had no intention of letting go. Nadeem and Rehman sprang up and it took the three of us to pull the guard off him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?” Nadeem demanded, his eyes focused on the guard in anger. The guard paused to stare at him as if he were confused. Yahya and Rehman were observing the scratch marks. Meanwhile I rushed to grab the shotgun the guard had dropped at the gate, if anyone outside decide to steal it, the guard will be in more trouble than he already is. When I returned, the guard was still carrying the same dumb look; his eyes moved toward Yahya, his wounds and then again to Nadeem who was now asking him to go to the room and rub on some antiseptic. The very next second it was Nadeem's turn to get pounced on. He slipped to the left trying to evade him; I reacted and hit the guard with the butt of the gun as hard as I could. The guard lost his balanced and stumbled.

"Let’s get to the reception desk. They should know they employed a flesh biting psycho who is supposed to protect people". We paced to the front reception looking back at the guard every third step to check if he was following us.

At the front desk, Nadeem furiously walked over to the receptionist. He blankly faced Nadeem who had already started talking "Look at his arms. I don’t know what your guard is trying to do but you can be sure as hell he isn't doing his job." The receptionist was even remotely interested in looking at Yahya's arms or noticing the guard's weapon that I was carrying. I looked closely at the receptionist; he looked to be acting the same way the guard was just before he turned into a savage. He flinched his face exposing the tips of his teeth which looked familiar. One thing was very probable. He could be in the same state as the guard.

"Are you even paying attention; would you look at his arms for a minute"
"Nadeem", I cut him off, "We need to leave! Now!"
"I'm not going to let this go just because you said so. This is very serious-"
"Trust me we need to go.” I urgently said.
"No. I-", he stopped short when the receptionist let out a muffled growl and then he stretched his mouth wide open and dangerously growled again. This convinced Nadeem that we won’t be able to reason with him and he ran off towards the exit and tugged us to make us follow. Rehman and Yahya still stunned were staring at the receptionist's face. I took the gun and tried to shove the butt in his neck the same way I did to the guard but he wasn't inattentive and he evaded the assault; from behind the desk he prepared to charge at me. Hoping that there will be shells in the gun, I loaded it, aimed at his chest and pressed the trigger. There was deafening blast and the monster in front of me dropped right in his tracks.

Wide eyed I turned back where Nadeem with one hand on the door handle was still trying to absorb what had just happened. It dawned on me hard that I had just killed a man. Human instinct for self-defense made me act without thinking. I was still in shock and the rest of my friends still stunned and we almost didn't see the guard trying to come in. Nadeem rammed his shoulder against the door trying to lock the guard out but the guard in his inhumane state was banging against the door trying to open it. Yahya took charge and snatched the gun from my hands, loaded and pointed at the door. Nadeem getting the signal moved out of the way. The door opened and there was a second blast echoing in the room that made us reach for our ears. Rehman rushed to the guard's body, took off the belt he was wearing that had shells on it and checked his pockets to find more. I was still staring at what had just happened, unable to think clearly.

"Let’s get to the room", Yahya said rushing out. The three of us followed him running as fast as we could incase another staff member comes trying to rip us apart. Getting to the room, we locked the door behind us and dragged a chair and stuck it under the door handle.

"Good thing we are on the first floor, I don't think anyone will try to climb through the window.” Yahya said relived.
"We don’t know that yet", Rehman replied.

Nadeem looked at me. I still had not recovered. How could Yahya kill a man and be so normal just after it. "You okay?” he asked.

"I just killed a man"
"That’s what you have on your mind? He was not a man when you killed him. He was going to kill us. We don’t need you phasing out right now."
"Right.” I shook my head and took my cell phone out and dialed the emergency number to call the police. Whatever happened, we still had two dead bodies in the reception and the gun that we used to kill them.

"Guys start packing and plug in everything to get it charged", Rehman said running around the room to sort out the gadgets we had.

I walked to the bedside table to get my cell phone charger, the phone still pressed against my ear listening intently hoping someone will pick up soon, calmly rehearsing what I will say to them. There was no answer. I dialed again and turned on the speaker phone and plugged my phone in. I joined Rehman getting the bags out and the clothes packed. Meanwhile Nadeem was cleaning and dressing Yahya's arms. I kept on persistently calling, not getting any answer each time. Frustrated I turned on the television and switched to a news channel knowing that there was no way it could help us. But to my surprise the first phrase we heard made us stop dead. All four pair of eyes focused on the television.

The lady reciting the news calmly continued, "Every citizen is urged to stay in their homes until further notice. The authorities are working hard and they claim that everything is under control..."

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Read Chapter 2

Martyrdom?

2011-07-26T17:23:00.004+05:00

I remember it vividly. It was a nice summer evening. My brother had just returned from the UK after completing his degree in biometrics. He was finally here and he had a job. His return was a moment of immeasurable joy for us all. He hadn’t just returned, he had returned to us with hope. He had delivered to us the optimism that now at last, our hardships would end. We would have a roof we could call our own and food at the table 3 times a day. The day he got his 100% scholarship mum predicted our life was soon to change…that we needed just a little more patience.

And now the time was here. He, in celebration decided to give all of us a lavish dinner in one of the most expensive restaurants in town. He got us great new clothes and even rented a cab for us to go over in style. As we approached I was rather amazed at the way people arrived. While our family of 4 struggled to survive every day, people blew thousands and thousands on pure extravagance!

We got to the restaurant and were shown to our seats by a gentle man in a suit. My younger sister, mother and I gazed around in amazement as we waited for my brother. As the waiter left we got back to discussing our plans. My mother told me that my brother said I would get to resume school! He assured my mom that he would get us a new bigger house with 2 rooms!! And we could even grow with time; he even mentioned the possibility of a car. For the living we had had for the past 10 years, this was all too much for my mother to take in. she simply smiled in pure delight as a tear trickled down her cheek.

I got up and went to the washroom. As I returned I saw this tall figure sitting where I was. He was here!! He was finally here!! I ran in absolute delight only to find myself tossed backwards as a huge shockwave ripped through the hall followed by a flame. As I regained my senses I saw debris lying all around.

I turned to look around and to search for some familiar face. I saw a body rise through the rubble. She yelled while I stared in pure shock as my mother gazed back in horror. A tear trickled down her face. All her dreams, all her joy, her life, everything was shattered; it was all so short lived. In a mere day, her life had changed; OUR life had changed, in every possible sense. After dads death she could finally see us standing on our feet again, but it was all taken away. All our hopes and dreams were ripped from our hands by a boy who was too much of a coward to face the world head on. A boy who had just hit puberty and was determined on proving to the world that he was a man. A boy who was ‘brave’, who was not afraid of killing people and was not afraid of embracing ‘martyrdom’. A boy who too would have had a future, who too could achieve something in life, and use it to achieve something in the hereafter. But instead, he in his rush ruined it. Not only for himself, but for tens of other families.

It was all over. Mother and I would go on back to hawking on the streets. I would never get schooling and never would I be able to realize the dreams I had. I did not see my bother for 4 years. I knew he would have changed but how was I to know he would change so much that his face would be beyond recognition. That he would change so much that he wouldn’t talk to me, or smile at me, or get up and hug me. How was I to know that I would see his face only once again, only to put him six feet under with my own hands?

My life had changed, everything had changed, while people commented on how ill-fated the incident was and moved on with their lives, I lay there not knowing how to tackle the future. As humanity moved on, in their usual way, deeply remorseful of this unfortunate situation, I could not, the mark on my life was very permanent. I had lost those I loved, I had lost all my future, I had lost all I had. I had in this bizarre twist of events, lost all will to live.

The “Un-Biased” Media

2011-07-24T16:43:00.001+05:00

Akbar Khan Bugti, a Balochi nationalist terrorist. His assails killed thousands of innocent people and challenged the government’s influence and subsequently feint over large parts of Balochistan. Media constantly criticized the Pakistan government and the military for not taking actions and that these actions are destroying the sovereignty of our homeland. After years of fighting the Pakistani military (in which the Pakistani military suffered immense losses), the Pakistani military finally cornered and killed him.

Overnight, this radical architect became a sacrificial victim, a martyr, a national hero. This wild animal was being lionized by the media. What changed the minds of these genius journalists in the blink of an eye? This was not the only incident. If we skim through the pages of history such incidents have not only caused unrest and chaos in our country but have also tarnished the image of Pakistan nationally and internationally.

The media have been a special element of fanning all the rage combustion of indignation in opposition to the administration for no valid rationale. They are prejudiced and slanted, palpably snubbing to elucidate both sides of the anecdote.
Zardari Sahab is out of his bed. Now he has changed in to his sherwani. Now he smiled towards Sherry Rehman. Now he has logged on his facebook account. Now he is reading the newspaper. Now he is watching the news at a renowned private cable channel. Now he is talking with someone at telephone. Now he is on his way to the presidency. Now he has waved towards the jialahs.

How could we say that private media channels are being objective and un-biased? They are holding thousands number of talk shows and commentaries over the topics of their own interest, while whenever any government’s issue comes, their attitude becomes very cold and “professional”.

Media is the most powerful tool of propaganda; realized as early as 1930’ by Himmler of Nazi Germany. Do you really think that all Germans during Hitler time supported the heinous crimes committed by the SS on the orders of Himmler? Certainly not, but Nazi propaganda machinery created an empathy with the Nazi cause they kept silent. The electronic media is projecting a negative image of Pakistan and sensationalizing some of the issues related to terrorism. The country was passing through a critical phase and the media should act responsibly and avoid creating sensationalism.

I am all for free speech but there are always certain limits especially when it comes to survival of the state. But Pakistani media is playing the same role but not for the Pakistan State but for the Taliban. So the need of the day is that we should all act responsibly and most importantly these people who actually builds opinions plus fabricate or destroy the image of our homeland

How to hunt for a Final Year Project

2011-07-23T17:41:00.001+05:00

Assemble a Team
First things first, you need to assemble a team that need to have enough useful people to get the job done. The team needs to decide on their expertise and interests. If you can give enough time working on the Final Year Project, you can learn new tools and stuff which will give you an edge in the open house.

Choose your Project
There are two way to go about this, either you come up with an idea yourself or you go through the proposals of the professors and pick the one that seems the most interesting to you. THE most important thing here will be your idea; if it’s unique, defending it during the presentations is really easy.
If your team picks the idea, then you need to define a scope, to do that, get off your ass and go to professors and industry professionals that might have worked in the field or the technologies that you need to work with. The more advice you take the more you know what needs to be in your scope; university alumni will be your best bet to get useful info.

Choose the Supervisor
REMEMBER!! The supervisor will NOT help you like you want, he is just there to check your progress and give advice, so do not expect much from him, and there is never any use whining after the deadline about how useless your supervisor was. However a good supervisor will torture you and make you look good in the presentations. And trust me you need to look good in the presentations.

Don't like to Work Much?
Go for an apparently attractive and research based idea. You will not be making a product for the user so you will skip a lot of documentation otherwise necessary and most probably you will only be working on a specific algorithm for the rest of the year.
WARNING: You will not impress a portion of the panel and of course no one is going to come to you during Open House because industries don't do research much, they have PhD people for that.

Start Working Already!!
It hard-coded in students to work mostly during the last days of the deadline. Do the opposite of that. Work during the holidays and at the start of the semester when the work load is at a minimum and do NOTHING just before the evaluation. That way you will have enough time to work on what to present and what to leave for the future presentations. Remember NOT to present everything in a single presentation because even if you are ahead of your time line, they are always going to judge by the improvements you bring in each presentation.

Hope this will help in one way or another. Stay tuned for Final Year Project presentation tips.

iPhone vs. Android vs. BlackBerry

2011-07-22T19:06:00.003+05:00

The top three companies that are fighting for the market share are the Apple's iPhone, RIM's (Research in Motion) BlackBerry and Google Android. Being in Pakistan which smart phone are YOU?

Well starting with BlackBerry, its target market is very specific; businessmen, corporate sector and people that are bound by an enterprise have developed an absolute need for a BlackBerry. Its encrypted data services, efficient email synch and the so very comfortable QWERTY keyboard all combine to one must have gadget. This doesn't completely mean that if you are a normal user, then you have no use for it, it comes with a fairly good camera and flash and with the OS 6, its interface packs much more fun and speed. Plus if once you get addicted to the QWERTY keyboard, you can never get the same comfort out of any cell phone.

It’s all that BUT talking about Pakistan, where you cannot get any BIS (BlackBerry Internet Service) half of its purpose dies away, well you still have the email, the mighty BlackBerry messenger and the browser now uses the WAP profile but most of the applications that you are bound to have don't work, Google Maps, facebook, twitter, all the most basic apps don’t work. Smart phone needs to have tons of apps that you can download and try out. What’s more, the BlackBerry App World is also not available for Pakistan anymore. I own a BlackBerry and I'm too addicted to a lot of things it still gives me but I will still not recommend it if you don't have an organization that provides you with BES (BlackBerry Enterprise Service). If RIM (Research in Motion) is cutting us out of their market segment, then why should we be persistent, there are other smart phones to choose from.

Moving on, I would discuss Android and iPhone closely, because they are complete replacements of each other. Both provide a fancy interface with capacitive touch screens, both have tons of apps and promise reliability so which one are you? If you are already going "iPhone duh!!", then you might part of the crowd that I often ask "Why not an Android?" and the answer is: "Because it’s an iPhone". It seems that Apple has infected its users with a virus that causes irrationality. When Apple was coming out with the new iPhone 4, it was so expensive that I actually looked up its images on the internet to check if it was made of platinum and interestingly it had everything except a good reception, but who needs that in a phone right?

Again being in Pakistan, either we cannot pay for apps because we don't have a credit card or we just don’t want to because paying for software is the silliest thing we have heard, it’s surprising why people still go for a iPhone and then go through the hassle of jail breaking it when you don't need to do that for an Android. There has to be a reason that on average 500,000 droids are being activated every single day and that it’s eating rapidly into the smartphone market. It provides the same apps and experience that iPhone does, it has hundreds of models to choose from and if you are a software developer, it has the easiest ways to make applications. So, logically if an Android can cost about the same, feel the same, run the same applications, and has custom message tones (a 3310 can do that and iPhone can't) and Bluetooth file sharing then why not go for the sane choice? If you still are going "Yeah and the sane choice is an iPhone" then you are beyond help and Apple has already gotten to you.

Well that's just my opinion, let’s hear yours...

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Death Trip: Prologue

2011-07-21T21:07:00.007+05:00

Life has never been about comfort, it has never been about letting one have all he needs not even eventually. Life is always about problems and more problems and about solving them. I had no idea where such a thought just originated when I heard a very faint voice calling me; I felt like I had fallen in a very deep well, my neck ached and the faint voices coming somewhere from the top persistently kept on calling. Splashes of cold water felt even more annoying than the noise. I tried opening my eyes but my eyelids felt like they were made of lead and the light was blinding. Light? Where did so much light come from in a well? I felt a sharp pang on my left cheek which forced me to open my eyes. It took me a while to realize where I was. There were three pairs of curious eyes staring at me. I felt rigidness in lower right of my neck and instinctively reached out for it but Nadeem stopped me. I bent my neck to exercise my muscles but nearly cried out in pain.

"Relax your neck", Yahya urgently said, "and keep it straight. If you put any more pressure on it, you will start bleeding again."

I was still too weak to say anything. Bleeding? What did just happen?

"We need to speed up the work", it was Rehman voice, "We need to get going at the break of dawn. We cannot risk low visibility in this condition and this terrain."

Nadeem gestured him to stop talking listening intently at the closed metal shutter of the room we were in. There was silence after which there was a somehow familiar terrifying growl and something started banging continuously on the metal shutter.

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