Double U Blog

OS Playgrounds

Waleed — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 15:32:47 +0000

Hear the word “operating system,” and the first thing that pops into mind for most of us is the Windows logo in all its multi-colored glory; peer a little harder and you might see a big shiny Apple and maybe catch a glimpse of the Linux Penguin hovering around the corner, each with their band of devotees carrying their respective banners passionately onwards. The operating system (OS) development space of today though, is arguably getting a little stale. Windows 7, OS X Snow Leopard and Ubuntu 9 – the latest incarnations of the Top Three – have all seen no huge innovation in the way OS are designed and used. They’ve been by and large maintenance and performance improvement releases; and while it’s great to see faster boot times and improved stability, they are far from being the revolution in computing we’ve been waiting for. For many, the story ends at the operating system that comes installed with the computer we buy and “dual boot” is another name given to more than one shoe. Diving into the world of formatted hard drives, BIOS updates and driver incompatibilities in search of “the perfect OS” is certainly not a job for the faint-hearted. But what about BeOS, or Haiku – or even the many flavors of Linux that never get the attention of the mainstream? What if these relatively obscure operating systems are better suited to the evolving trend of computer use in the home – or even the school and office? What have you left when we take out Windows, Mac OS and Ubuntu from the picture? Chaos? Pandemonium? World peace?

Hor Vi Neevan Ho

Waleed — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:39:43 +0000

Some more beautiful music from Coke Studio. Vocals: Ali Noor & Ali Hamza with their mother Noor Zehra playing the veena. Lyrics here.

LOST – And Never Found

Waleed — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 14:10:18 +0000

In the latter half of its last season, Lost turned from an intellectual challenge and thought-provoking look at free will, destiny and faith to an outrageous and gaudy sham. Faithful viewers, who had kept up with the show for six years were left to pick up the pieces, of which there were many, and attempt to fill the holes in the expansive plot themselves. A successful show, but a failure to its viewers.

When Will We Learn?

Waleed — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 15:46:14 +0000

Nothing can move our countrymen into a mad frenzy quite like the mention of the words "Zionist" and "conspiracy," especially if they're in the same sentence. Rampant corruption, social decay, food and water shortages - when it comes to public outrage, none of that compares to our so-called and temporary unity over any and all attempts to fend off the obvious international plot to undermine all Muslims. The "blasphemous content" fiasco sparked by the misappropriated "Draw Muhammad Day" on Facebook has had our whole country foaming at the mouth for some time now; so far nearly 800 URLs have been banned at the orders of the government and while there is no word on any official list, a petition in the Lahore High Court resulted in sites like Google, Yahoo, Bing, and Amazon being added to the ever-growing list.

Life in Unlikely Places

Waleed — Sun, 03 May 2009 17:16:00 +0000

The discovery of microorganisms that can thrive in harsh environments without the need for oxygen or sunlight throws a new perspective on the search for extra-terrestrial life and the belief that other planets are too inhospitable for living organisms.

Just a thought

Waleed — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:31:12 +0000

To say the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team this morning was a revolting and heinous crime, and to hope for the severest punishment for whoever is responsible for it would be stating the obvious. The attack is a crime not just against a sport, two different countries, the people who were injured [....] Read the rest →

Recycling Old Cellphones

Waleed — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 16:33:50 +0000

Recycling is almost fiction to most Pakistanis, and the wave of eco-awareness has only swept across a startlingly small percentage of our population. You’ll see several street corners here with a pile of trash that’s been set alight to dispose of; it’s a major health hazard, and it would be stating the obvious to point [....] Read the rest →

Oliver’s Busy Day

Waleed — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 07:49:57 +0000

I can certainly relate to Oliver! From the awesome Wondermark by David Malki (click on the image for a larger version).

15 Tech Predictions for 2009

Waleed — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 18:44:15 +0000

At the year’s end, the interwebs are full of all and sundry trying to predict what the next year will bring. So I joined the bandwagon and gazed into my own little crystal ball to see what the entire hubbub will be about. This is of course concerned with the tech world (with focus on [....] Read the rest →

Russian businessman trademarks emoticon

Waleed — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:41:01 +0000

A series of punctuation marks used to convey a wink in text messages – known as an emoticon – has been trademarked in Russia, says a local businessman. – BBC News A businessman from Russia has apparently succeeded in trademarking the winking smiley (or emoticon), . Oleg Teterin says he won’t go after individual users [....] Read the rest →