Double U Blog

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 for [...]

The Right Direction for Windows 7

Waleed — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:55:58 +0000

Windows 7's low system-resource usage is the right direction for Microsoft to take, and its an essential feature if Microsoft wants to be on the netbook market. In addition, their recent decision to release a small-footprint security suite (antimalware, firewall, etc.) is another plus point under their belt. Read on for a brief look at why I think the things Microsoft is doing with Windows 7 are the right direction for the new OS and the company's position in the consumer market

Outsourcing code and Pakistan’s electricity crises

Waleed — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:18:26 +0000

Update: After the blog post announcing this ‘warning’ was inundated with angry and frustrated Pakistani coders, RAC has decided to suspend the site-wide message until they’ve gotten more reliable information on the problem and ground realities. All, This is from Ian Ippolito, the owner of Rent a coder. My sincere apologies if your business was negatively affected [...]

LittleBigPlanet delayed over soundtrack

Waleed — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 13:04:09 +0000

LittleBigPlanet (the game) is expected to 'revive' sales for the Sony PS3, but it looks like it'll be 6 days late in doing so. Why? Part of the soundtrack music contained verses from the Quran. Listen to it yourself - see if you can make it out (transcription below).

Woman killed over Facebook post

Waleed — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:14:48 +0000

Just saw this BBC News story. Man killed wife in Facebook row A man has been jailed for life for stabbing his wife to death over a posting she made on the social networking site Facebook. Full story, BBC News The guy was obviously out of his mind, but I guess her changed relationship status on Facebook to [...]