Blog-mania !

Online Shopping !!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 02 Mar 2014 19:27:00 +0000

Just experienced a new online shopping sensation that's quickly gaining popularity amongst the Pakistani youth. I'm talking about Trendock who've recently launched a new online shopping portal. The site hosts a number of trendy, good quality products at discounted rates. Product ranges include T-shirts, leather jackets, wallets and other stuff for both men and women.

My personal experience with them so far has been entirely satisfying. Check-out the link below:

www.trendock.com
www.trendock.pk

Peace.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 15:52:00 +0000

Does being successful in life guarantee peace and happiness ? What is success ? How does one measure his or her success ?

Human's by nature are very demanding. One desire is fulfilled and then we move on to next. Funny how people fool themselves every time, that whatever they seek is the most important thing in life.....

The truth is that success is only temporary. What one should strive for is happiness, contentment with what one has, "THE INNER PEACE" as some may call it !

Compatibility

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:44:00 +0000

Every time i tell myself to have faith and start all over again, something goes terribly wrong and i find myself in that same old state of frustration and mindlessness. Why does life has to be so complicated and tough ? Why can't we simply just read minds and find out what people are thinking ? Seriously it would simplify things so much.

But then some people would argue why change yourself for somebody else ? Maybe they are right. Maybe the best thing to do is to just let go off people who are not compatible with you. But then is it always a possibility ? What if that person is somebody or someone that you have to deal with every single day ? Can you still afford to let go off such a person ?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 20:10:00 +0000

Have faith !!!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 20:08:00 +0000

Have faith !!!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 05:31:00 +0000

The only thing that distinguishes winners from losers is FOCUS . So focus, focus, focus.........

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:47:00 +0000

Winning is not everything, it is the only THING !!!

Ramazan Mubarak !

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 10:30:00 +0000

I apologize to all of you who had been expecting to hear from me. Sorry but i was busy with an internship. Now that I'm done with it i plan to post often. Well apart from that I'd like to wish all of you a very joyous Ramadan !

Go out, eat and enjoy all those iftar dinners with friends and family. But don't forget to pray a lot after all that's what this month is about !

PS: I was going through some of the blogs i read often and i found people writing depressing posts. To that one individual blogger I'd say "Come on get a grip". Life's too short to cry over somebody who was never yours. Enjoy yourself and before you realize it you'll forget him !

Is an MBA worth it ?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 19:24:00 +0000

Most of my friends who've recently graduated from business schools and some of them from engineering universities are going for an MBA to "boost their careers". But is an MBA really worth it ?

Well the answer to the above question is not as simple as yes or no. It depends from person to person. Only an individual himself can decide whether an MBA is necessary for him or not. The unfortunate things these days is people have starting jumping onto careers as if it were some sort of train. Anyone on the faster train would reach his goal first. But this is not true ! If somebody else with an MBA degree is successful in his/her career doesn't mean that it'll work for you too. Every person is different and we should learn to accept our individuality. A good cook might not necessarily be a good painter. Similarly an MBA might not be as important for you as it is for someone else.

An MBA is a degree which can be beneficial not just for business graduates but also for engineers,doctors,accountants or anyone in a managerial position. But it is you who can judge best whether an MBA is worth your time, effort and money !

Human Balloon?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 25 May 2011 15:39:00 +0000

I always wondered if humans could be blown up like balloons ? Not that I'm some kind of freak thinking of new ways to kill people but just out of sheer curiosity . Finally i got my answer after reading this article on Yahoo.

Humans can actually be blown up if you maintain the right air-pressure. Here's the article :

Compressed air turns NZ trucker into human balloon

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – A New Zealand truck driver said he blew up like a balloon when he fell onto the fitting of a compressed air hose that pierced his buttock and forced air into his body at 100 pounds a square inch.
Steven McCormack was standing on his truck's foot plate Saturday when he slipped and fell, breaking a compressed air hose off an air reservoir that powered the truck's brakes.
He fell hard onto the brass fitting, which pierced his left buttock and started pumping air into his body.
"I felt the air rush into my body and I felt like it was going to explode from my foot," he told local media from his hospital bed in the town of Whakatane, on North Island's east coast.
"I was blowing up like a football," he said. "I had no choice but just to lay there, blowing up like a balloon."
McCormack's workmates heard his screams and ran to him, quickly releasing a safety valve to stop the air flow, said Robbie Petersen, co-owner of the trucking company.
He was rushed to the hospital with terrible swelling and fluid in one lung. Doctors said the air had separated fat from muscle in McCormack's body, but had not entered his bloodstream.
McCormack, 48, said his skin felt "like a pork roast" — crackling on the outside but soft underneath.

The original source : Yahoo : Compressed air turns man into balloon !

Subsidized Tractors : A necessity or extravagance ?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 09 May 2011 19:28:00 +0000

Foreword :
Since Pakistan's economy is still by large an agrarian economy i decided to write something related to agriculture.

Body:
Now most of you i believe have come across the recent agricultural development programs of the government.One such scheme is to provide subsidized tractors to small scale and medium scale farmers.That would have been a great step given another set of situation but in the current energy crisis its a waste of limited funds.

I know most of you would disagree with me but kindly allow me to explain. If the farmers have no electricity to run their tube wells then what good can the tractors do ? On each tractor their is a subsidy of around Rs2,00,000 . This is not a small amount considering what could have been done with it.

First of all that the same amount of funding should have been used to equip small and medium scale farms with wind turbines or solar energy systems to power their tube wells. Most farms in Pakistan do not require much energy so a small system would be well within the budget allocated as subsidy for each tractor.

Secondly this would offset the farmer's input cost by reducing his energy bills and he will then be empowered to spend the saved money on fertilizers and high quality seeds which will definitely increase the yield per crop. Indirectly the government would be the beneficiary.

Third, the energy saved by shifting these farms onto alternate sources will reduce power outages in urban and industrial areas.

As for tractors,they can be rented on a per hour basis but energy is something without which growth and production is impossible.I just hope the government comes up with such projects that would help resolve the current energy crisis in the country .

Bio-fuels:The true picture !

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 06 May 2011 22:06:00 +0000

Recently i came across a blog post from one of my reading list. It was about bio-fuels being used as an alternate energy source.Before you continue to read on please go through the article over here: Spring of Autumn !

Since oil prices around the world are shooting up the low cost of bio-fuels seems to be very attractive. But you have to keep in mind the larger picture.As we all know that land is limited so eventually energy crops for bio fuels will compete with food crops. The farmer will definitely choose to cultivate energy crops as it will result in greater profits for him.This will cause a food shortage throughout the world.

In a country like Pakistan where food inflation is already in the double digits this would mean signing the death warrant of millions of people who live below the poverty line ! Whereas the rich would be happily fueling up their fancy cars with cheaper "cleaner" bio-fuels .

There are several other sources of alternate energy with less negative impacts that are waiting to be tapped . Surely we should work on those rather than bio-fuels which can create an unbalance in the world .

This is Life !

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 01 May 2011 12:20:00 +0000

Finally its the best part of the week ! Yes you're right "the weekend" ! There's nothing as refreshing as a weekend. So sit-back all you folks and enjoy life a little. Let go of all your worries and stresses just for a day and be grateful of what you have !

The Royal Wedding !

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 19:16:00 +0000

Finally the big day comes to an end. Kate and Prince Williams' wedding was witnessed by more than 2 billion people worldwide on television. Wow now that's called viewership ! Even here in Pakistan all news channels spent the day covering the mega event and giving background knowledge on the royal family and the British monarchy.

Although the marriage was not as lavish as Princess Diana's but overall it was a nice event. It reminded of historical times when kingdoms used to be more common and people witnessed more of these royal occasions.
Wishing the couple best of luck for their future ! Long live the prince and the princess.

You can read the full story at yahoo articles, write here : The Royal Wedding

Heat !

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 20:15:00 +0000

Finally we're starting to feel the heat turn on in Karachi too. Its almost 35 centigrade outside. Personally i dislike summers, you sweat too much, get dehydrated ,get sun burns if you stay out for too long and if you're out of luck you might even faint due to low blood pressure. In short its really difficult to do anything in such weather.

Thanks to the power supply corporation there's also been an increase in power outages lately.Hot weather plus no electricity its a deadly combination !
To add to the misery my flu is back and its really killing me. Lets just hope it goes away soon.

Thats all for now. Take care all of you and protect yourself from the Sun.

PS: Conserve energy, turn off unnecessary lights and fans.

Mobile Spam !

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 19:19:00 +0000

First email, then messenger services and chat rooms now finally cell phones. Spam is everywhere and its spreading day by day. Most email service providers will boast that their filters have stopped or reduced spam content but it isn't true. Like all other industries the spam industry is also changing ....

So what actually is spam ? According to Wikipedia spam is "unsolicited or undesired electronic messages" . In other words any unwanted,undesired, disturbing, annoying, irritating message is spam ! So how does it affects us? Basically advertisers use spam as a cheap marketing tool to push their products into our faces whether we're interested or not . The costs associated with spamming are minimal so it is preferred mostly by small businesses and of-course frauds who're always after your money.

Recently with the boom in telecommunication and decreasing cost of short messaging services (SMS) spam has also made its way into the cellular networks across the globe.Spammers are now increasingly using mobile phones to spread unwanted messages.Spam SMS are really becoming a headache for cell phone users.

Personally I'm fed up of receiving texts about some new internet service in town, or the cheap substandard and probably fake viagra ads that i keep receiving on my cell. Seriously, telecom operators have to stop this otherwise we'll be drowned in a world full of spam.

Energy !

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 15:34:00 +0000

The recent increase in petroleum prices has brought across a new wave of inflation and price hikes not only in Pakistan but all across the world. Sometimes i wonder is this some kind of plan to starve out the poor and low income groups across the globe and reduce the planet's population ? Or is it the greediness of the ultra-rich oil giants to milk the world of all the wealth.

Anyhow we cannot control the global oil prices but we should at least do what lies in our hands. I fail to understand why Pakistan being a country that has numerous diverse energy resources relies so heavily on oil. We have unlimited supply of coal at Thar and in regions of Balochistan why don't we explore that area ? Why have we failed to attract foreign investors in the coal mining sector ?

Why don't we shift get hydro-electricity ? If a consensus cannot be reached on large dams we should at least go ahead with smaller units.Something is better than nothing.Then we have wind energy. Why don't we use our wind corridors to generate free, non-polluting electricity ?

Last but not the least we have the Sun on our side. We might be uncertain about most of the things in life but one thing is sure : The sun will rise everyday. We can look forward to the Sun to meet our energy demands. The world has seen exponential growth of solar energy in recent years so why should Pakistan remain behind in the race ?

A country having a diverse energy mix is least affected by fluctuations in oil prices. We will have to realize this fact and shift to other means to meet our energy requirements and the sooner we act the better it is.

It's Over !

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 19:33:00 +0000

Finally the cricket world cup fever comes to an end with India winning the world title. Well most of us already knew that it would be India who would be taking the cup home due to their home ground advantage and the marvelous performance they gave in this entire tournament.

Nonetheless Sri lanka also did well and kept fighting till the end. But as the saying goes "May the best man win."

Anyways...its over now and nothing can be done. So back to work everyone !

Pak-India Cricket Semi Final !

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 19:39:00 +0000

Finally the date all of us had been waiting for has arrived ! 30 March 2011 marks the beginning of a new exciting day. Everyone is set for the world cup semi final going to be played amongst India and Pakistan.

Although there's been some news about rain in Mohali where the match is going to be played but lets hope for the best.
For now, everyone keep your fingers crossed . Looking forward to an exciting match.....

8 Essentials They Didn't Teach You in School !

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 17:43:00 +0000

Lately, I’ve been simultaneously using less and less of what I learned in school while discovering more and more skills that are vital to success which were never even offered in school!
If I were to be 100% honest, probably the most valuable skill I learned in college was how to talk to girls (certainly a vital skill for happiness and success, but not what I was there to learn).
The economics classes? Nope, mostly academic mumbo-jumbo that is entirely useless to all but a handful of policy makers. The computer science classes? Hmm, maybe about 10% of that I’ve used, but it’s nothing I couldn’t have picked up with a couple good books, which I routinely do now. The history, English, philosophy, and physics? Aside from giving me a general understanding of the world and making me sound smart at cocktail parties, I can’t think of anything in there that I really use on a day to day basis.
Much of college gave me a bad taste for education. It made learning a real drag. I got through it to get the degree, but it wasn’t until after school that my education really began.
So what are the top skills that should be taught to every man, woman, and child who enters our education system? I’m glad you asked…

How to make people like you and network

For a skill so essential to success that affects every area of your life (from dating, to family, to work) it’s amazing how little people know about this. I can hear you saying…”I thought some people were just born with it and the rest of us were out of luck! You mean it’s something you can study?” Well, yes!
There is great power in knowing you can reach out to your network whenever you have a problem to solve, to be able to reach key influencers at conferences and meetings, to make an impression on audiences, to project confidence and trustworthiness, and to make friends with other successful people.
The shy folks lurking in the corners at cocktails parties will never reach their full potential as human beings because our school system didn’t place enough value on “being social”. President Bush didn’t get the best grades at Princeton, but boy did he know how to network, and look where that got him.
Required reading: How to Win Friends and Influence People and How to Talk to Anyone: 92 Little Tricks for Big Success in Relationships.

How to speed read and the power of audio books

Yes, speed reading and speed comprehension is real. The nominal investment of time it takes to learn pays off in spades for the rest of your life. After all, how would your life be different if you were able to read an extra book each week?
The same goes with audio books. If you spend an hour per day in the car learning instead of cursing at other drivers or listening to Britney Spears, you will have attended the equivalent of an entire semester course. Every major book today comes out on audio book, and you can read (listen to) them all without taking any additional time out of your day. Why wouldn’t you?
Looking at all the “required reading” links in this article might seem a little overwhelming, but I was able to listen to them all on audio books while driving around town. It was actually fun.
Required reading: The Psychology of Achievement by Brian Tracey

How to set goals and manage time

Want to know how to get anything done in life? Our school system doesn’t feel that this is worth teaching apparently, but call me crazy, I think it’s important (I’m probably preaching to the choir on LifeHack.org, but still).
The research that has come out lately is groundbreaking…everything from eliminating multi-tasking, using blocks of uninterrupted time where phone and email are off, prioritized to-do lists, urgent but unimportant vs. non-urgent but important tasks, etc.
If you have ever found yourself being busy all day only to wonder what you accomplished at the end of it, then you need to learn this stuff. Understanding productivity will give you such an advantage over other people it’s hardly even fair.
Required reading: Getting Things Done, Eat That Frog, No B.S. Time Management For Entrepreneurs

How to read a financial statement

Robert Kiyosaki is fond of saying that the rich teach their children how to read financial statements and the poor do not. He is right. Schools have never been very good at teaching people how to get rich, probably in no small part because professors are generally poor and wouldn’t know how to teach it.
Yet with 95% of our population retiring at or below the poverty level, the economy in the dumps, and many people losing their homes to foreclosure, I bet plenty of Americans wish their school system had been a little more focused on money. After leaving college my friends could tell you the symbolic meaning behind the Brother’s Grimm Fairy Tales, but they couldn’t tell you the difference between a balance sheet and income statement. Nice job school system!
Required reading: Cash Flow Quadrant, or this blog article

How to negotiate, use contracts, and not get taken advantage of

If you want to accomplish anything of significance you’re going to have to work with other people. Whether its contractors, outsourcing, employees, etc…there is a certain art to structuring good contracts with these people, knowing how to find good talent, measuring results, knowing how to fire them, and not getting completely taken for a ride in the process. School teaches you none of this and most people have to learn it from the school of hard knocks by literally get taken advantage of several times.
Required reading: I haven’t seen many in this area but one that comes to mind is Donald Trumps The Art Of The Deal

How to save and invest

Again, people are never taught how to build wealth, which is why we have a nation in credit card debt. Moreover, they are never taught the power of passive income streams and how to really break free from the rat race of working 9-to-5. There is a whole body of literature on this topic which is never even touched upon in traditional education.
Required reading: The Richest Man In Babylon, The Millionaire Next Door, or Ben Franklin’s The Way To Wealth

How to be successful in life

Sounds sort of broad, doesn’t it? Yet some people have devoted a lifetime to understanding what makes people happy and successful. There are the big three: health, wealth, and relationships. People need to find what they really want to do with their life (something few of us ever really think about). We need to figure out how to do scary things that would be good for us, break bad habits, how to let go of bad things in the past, etc. There is a lot to learn here!
Required reading: What To Say When You Talk To Yourself, When I Say No I Feel Guilty, Think and Grow Rich, The Way Of The Superior Man (Ladies maybe you can recommend a relationship book for women in the comments)

How to spread an idea and basic marketing

Finally, I’ll just say that the basics of marketing are something everyone should understand. Even if you don’t think you’re in marketing, you’re in marketing. If you have an idea at work, or want to get a raise, or want to convince your kids to go see a movie then there is something applicable from the marketing world. Even just picking out a good headline for something you’re writing so that it will actually get read requires some basic marketing skills.
Required reading: Dan Kennedy’s The Ultimate Sales Letter, CopyBlogger, The Psychology of Influence

Conclusion

Until the school system comes around, I suppose its up to each of us to take care of our own education. That means reading, finding mentors, audio books, going to conferences, and of course blogs are a great resource.
What did you miss out on in school that you wish you’d learned? Or if you’re an educator do you feel there is a mismatch between what is taught and what’s important? Leave a comment below!

Brian Armstrong is a 25 year old entrepreneur who achieved financial freedom working for himself! Today he seeks to help others do the same as a writer, speaker, and consultant. Prior to becoming self employed, Brian’s work experience ranged from fortune 500 companies, to several small startups with less than 15 employees. In 2001, he ventured out on his own with his first company and was instantly hooked, starting two more in the next five years. Brian currently resides in Houston, TX leading authority on how to quit your job to work for yourself.

Culture Day !

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 19:08:00 +0000

What is the first response that comes to your mind when you hear the word " Baloch" ?

I found it very surprising that most people living in Pakistan know too little about the baloch people and their culture. Infact it comes as a 'shock' considering that 44% of Pakistan's total area lies in the Balochistan province.

Whatever little information the general public has about the balochi culture and the baloch people is through the electronic or print media. Unfortunately the media has intentionally or unintentionally created a negative perception of the baloch people.

Baloch are an integral part of Pakistan and it is very important for everyone to understand their culture and their psychology. The baloch people have always been proud of their culture and their land. History tells us that the very first settlers of Karachi were Baloch which was back then known as 'Kolachi' named after its first inhabitants who were from a place called Kolach in Balochistan.

Baloch are generally brave and kind hearted people who are well known for their hospitality and generosity.The Baloch people possess a rich culture whose traces go back to persian and arab cultures. Balochi poetry, balochi music and balochi cultural dresses are well known all around the world.
Today Baloch populations can be found spread across several regions of the world these include Pakistan, Afghanistan, in the Sistan and Balochistan province of Iran, Oman, Bahrain and other countries of the persian gulf.

The Balochi language is classified as a member of the Iranian group of the Indo-European language family, which includes Kurdish, Persian, Pashto, Dari, Tajik and Ossetian. The Baluchi language has the closest similarities to Kurdish, Avestan, old Persian and other Iranian languages.

To rejoice and celebrate their distinct culture and to portray the positive image of the Baloch people "Baloch Culture Day" is being celebrated on 2nd of March throughout the world wherever baloch populations exist.
I hope this event will be a huge success and will allow people to get an insight to the Balochi culture and language.

Life moves on....

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 07:57:00 +0000

As i enter the final year of my bachelors i am reminded of my last year in school. The second year of my A-levels...

Suddenly i feel the striking mix of feelings, the strange familiar feeling that i felt back then. The feeling of losing your old friends, the feeling of letting go the institution that groomed you, the strange excitement of meeting new people and the fear of what awaits you once you leave your safe haven.

I guess this is what most of us have gone through.

Then comes the most dreaded / much awaited day. The official last day at your institution. Friends meet each other with affection and love. Even those who never talked to each other during all those years come closer at this occasion.Promises are made to keep in touch but deep down everyone knows they will hardly get any time to meet.

You move on convincing yourself you'll never let go off your friends. Time passes by. You make new friends and get busy with your routine. And soon you realize how far you've wandered away. But now it doesn't matter. You have other friends and lots of them. Occasionally you remember the goofiness or cheekiness of one your friends, the taunts of another, the jokes, the small talk, the wonderful evenings you spent together, the time you wasted at the canteen, the sunny days you spent together lazing around in the grass while bunking off classes, the pressure you handled together while meeting a project deadline and all the crazy stuff you did together.

But, life moves on......

Get a Grip !

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 14:24:00 +0000

According to statistical reports Pakistan's majority population consists of young people aged 16 to 25 but do we ever wonder what our youth is doing ? The youth of any country can prove to be a turn table for its economy. Young people are the talent and backbone needed for development and progress of any country.But is this what our youth is doing ?

Unfortunately majority of our young population wastes its time in useless entertainment.I mean just look at how these mobile phone companies are benefiting from hourly packages. Every corner of the street,every park or in any mall you can spot a guy or girl hooked to a phone chatting to his/her so called "love of life."

If its not the phone then computer! I'm amazed how many chat room sites are coming up everyday. Our nation seems to be obsessed with dating.
The strange thing is these relations are so short lived that the next day the two parties barely remember each other.

Come on guys and girls get a grip. Go out enjoy yourselves in a manner that not only entertains you but also teaches you something. Go join some sports club, some debating society, learn some programming or anything but stop wasting your time !

Karachi's Thirst !

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 18:05:00 +0000

A major problem in many areas of Karachi is the supply of clean water for drinking and other domestic purposes. The shortfall of water is met by local tankers that supply water to the desired location at about Rs1200 to 1500 per tanker(3600 gallons).

This water tanker supply business has been booming in the recent years. These tanker operators have often been the target of criticism from the general public who fail to realize that the primary responsibility of supplying water lies with the government. These water suppliers exist in the first place because the government is incapable of supplying water to all areas of Karachi. Furthermore the growing textile and leather goods industries in Karachi rely on supply of water through these tankers to meet their daily requirements.

Yes indeed there have been mistakes made on behalf of these water suppliers but the fact cannot be neglected that this water tanker supply business has provided employment to not hundreds but thousands of people including drivers,cleaners etc in Karachi.

Furthermore if one has to get rid of these water suppliers the simplest solution is to make water available to the industry and all residential areas of Karachi. Thus, as demand will decrease they will automatically go out of business.

What to do !

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 14:48:00 +0000

For the past one year my family like millions other in Pakistan have been facing some financial problems. I've seen the pressure gradually building up ....
So finally i decided to help my father by doing some part time job. I'm a student and obviously need to find a job that doesn't take up much of my time. With everything set, i started looking up the internet for part time jobs -the result a bombardment of information overload. After much research i came to the conclusion that part time jobs are really scarce in Pakistan and the ones that are available are actually full time jobs disguised as "Part-time" just to underpay the employees.

Ultimately i gave up my search. I decided to find a business that would require low capital and that i can manage along with my studies. I did some research in the local market but whoever i asked gave me the same reply " Market mein mandi hai bhai" OR "The market's in a recession" .

Confused and puzzled i continue to search for the part time business/job suitable for me ....

PS: Suggestions would be welcome !