Published in Dawn - 26th April 2009

A post of mine, which I also sent to Dawn Newspaper got published on 26th Apirl 2009.
The link for that blog post is :
http://waqas.com.pk/blog//index.php/2009/04/22/pakistan-stripped-of-cricket-world-cup-a

The link for my post, published in dawn newspaper is :
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/letters-to-the-editor/plea-to-include-icl-players-in-pakistan-squad

Doctor's Number 1 Choice ?

A soap brand which says to guard us from 5 types of germs or illness, claims to be doctors' number 1 choice.
The study they say was conducted among 1000 doctors in Pakistan.

According to the website of Pakistan Medical and Dental Council's statistics, till March 2009 there are 145960 registered doctors in Pakistan.
In a population of 18 crore people, one can easily find 1000 doctors in a small region of Karachi, let alone in the whole Pakistan.

Can the product be termed as number one choice by just conducting a survery study among 1000 doctors which are not even 1% of the total doctors' population of Pakistan ?

If this trend is followed, every product of Pakistan will become a number one choice.

Car AC not working when stuck in traffic jam, traffic signal or idle

Recently I faced a strange and unique problem with my car AC.

IT seems to be working fine when at speed, but when I got stuck in traffic jams or at traffic signal or if the car is just idle, the AC would stop working and would blow warm / normal air and not chilled air. Also, I noticed that the RPM would start to increase it self.

I took it to the AC tehnician and he said that it was related to AC service, and I should have the car ac serviced, which I did.

Even after ac service the problem remained there. I visited him again, and he told me that I should visit him as and when the problem occurs.

I then visited him as and when the error occured. On inspecting further, he told me that it is related to some MAGNET under the compressor of the AC. So when the magnet heats up , it stops working and which in turn causes the compressor to stop working.

So I had that MAGENT repaired and the AC seems to be working fine.

So next time when your car AC stops working, may be its not the time to service the AC but to have its magent checked.

What is the future of technology and IT business in Pakistan ?

Being in the IT business for more than a decade, I am often confonted with the question if the IT business is really worth it in Pakistan ?

I am running a small web development , designing and hosting business for about a decade now.
Looking back i think i have come a long way, but looking again makes me feel i have gone no where.

I have seen many IT business come and go. I have seen many portals and ISP who came , who saw, who conquered and then they disappeared.

I have seen big IT businesses coming in with a bang with much fan fare and disappearing with a blink of an eye.

I have seen many programmers and developers spending sleepless nights to complete their codings and projects, only to find it that the client did not like their concept or the product that they delivered.

I my self have spent long hour with the client to make sure that the design is as per his requirement and wishes. However, at many occassions client seemed unsatisfied with any thing i would deliver.

Web designing and hosting business is still seen by many as having no potential of income or growth. At times i have defied that , but as the time is progressing it makes me sink into the thought tht may be people are right and it has no potential ?

I have seen so many Pakistani isps failing.
There was a time in Pakistan that a new isp was emerging every new week, coming with lot of fan fare and techological gimmicks. And then again I have seen them fail and disappear, a few of them in such a manner that their internet users were left stranded and employees shocked.

Some of the isps i have seen failing or closed down are :

compunet
zoom net
hi net
breeze net
sat net

a few others who did not make it big, but failed big.

Then there was a time when people started having portals, offering online contents, information and even online shopping in Pakistan , at a time when being online was not an essential and people would turn to tv or other international websites for information rather than a local website.

I have seen portals who came with much promises but they then failed miserably.
The Pakistani online advertisement sector was very much in its infancy and untested. People would rather advertise on tv and print, but not on the internet. Those times have changed now and since 2008 we can see many pakistani companies advertising online on yahoo, msn and other website. Google adwords is the catalyst for change for many, as it has delivered the right content to the right user with a fraction of the cost. The adword sector may be covered later.

So there was a time when Pakistani portals failed miserably.

etaleem
sawmwonline
hi star / hi mall

and many such portals came into being but could not deliver , or may be they came earlier in the market, at a time when the market was raw.

I once went to give a job interview for a portal manager and I was asked a question if having portal in pakistan was really worth it ?
My instant answer was NO !

What followed next was a series of question, who would ask me all sorts of question regarding online trends of pakistani, pakistani online population / users, e-commerce spend of pakistan, web traffic of various website of pakistan like geo and jang, web traffice for various international websites.

All in all the prospective employer was impressing upon me that online web / portal business has potential and any new portal would be a hit.

I am still waiting to see that portal come online. May be it has, but i dont know about it.

Though I could not answer any of it, but still my real answer to a operating a portal in Pakistan was NO !
The reason for my answer being seeing so many pakistani isp's and portals failing over the period of time.

Over the period of time, I have seen some very small portal which have made big in Pakistan. These are developed and maintained by young studnets, who started it as a hobby and started making big money from it. They have not marketed their portal with much advertisement, all they have achieved is thru word of mouth.

So of the portals which are doing good are :

apniisp.com
funmaza.com
ejunoon.com

and many such small portals, which have taken a lot of resources and time of these developers.
They have contents ranging from dictionary, translation ,mp3 songs, sms, poetry and muslim names databases.

These sites are doing wonders to these young people, who are just fresh out of school and bagging handsome amounts thru advertisements.

Surely google adsense is the king when it comes to getting advertisements and these people do not have to go any where for advertisements. All they need to do is put a google adsense code, and advertisements start displaying on the website.

As per my information these people are making around US$ 200 / month from their portal.

Then there are some midsized portals, which have huge backings and can sustain, as they are being financed by their parent company.

A few of these are :
apnakarachi.com
hamariweb.com

These are sites which are backed by their principal parent company and have put a lot of effort to market their portal, backed by good contents.

And then there are news portals which are being owned and operated by newspapers and have been instrumental in providing up to the minute online news to the users.

dawn.com and jang.com.pk being the most frequented sites by online users wanting instant access to the news.

However, yet still web designers and developers do not seem to be getting the worth they should be, and web development still seems under prviliged job, where a lot of people ask questions like

Is it really good job ?
is it a good income ?
does it have a potential ?

For years i have been confronted with questions like these and have made me think and re-think.
Either i have been under performing or the general business trend has been.

Free - SMS Sending Software

Just install the software and start sending sms from your computer.
Ever looking for a sms sending software ? and that too for free ?
No trial version , no share ware , no vendor signature.

Just true sms sending software by microsoft.
This is a free sms sending software by microsoft, provided you have genuine windows XP / windows operation systems.

Just install the software and start sending sms from your computer. Connect your mobile to your computer thru cable / bluetooth etc , and start sending sms thru the software.

You can download the software from the following link:
http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/outreach/dnloads/smsSender.mspx

92 Khan and 09 Khan

When it comes to Pakistan cricket, it seems that 9 and KHAN is the lucky number for Pakistan.

We won the first cricket world cup under the captaincy of Imran KHAN in 1992
Then against we did it again in 2009, once again under the captaincy of Younus KHAN.

Another KHAN.

However, 9 is not a big time lucky number. We lost the cricket world cup final at lord in 1999 :D

In fact Pakistan lost the 1999 world cup final on June 20 , 1999
It was after a decade and a day later that pakistan won it again. No matter this time we won it in the smaller version of the game, but a win is a win - and winning a worldcup is a big acheivement by any means.

The nation needed this win more than the cricket team itself.

When a country ravaged by War, internal conflict , ethnic , politic and all sorts of conflicts, needed this win to unite the people of Pakistan.

The celeberation rightly proved that . People were enjoying and celeberating the win irrespective of their association.

This was one happy moment for the nation , which had lost all hopes and had nothing to cheer about , this was one happy moment after independence of 1947 , and then the world cup win in 1992. This is win is bigger than any , coming at a time when the Pakistani nation was down and under -

We have won many hockey world cups , but those win did not stir the nation as this one trurly has. Cricket is widely followed after Islam.

Show us the cup !

Now that Pakistan has won the worldcup - bringing happiness to people around the country and to the exapts living away from home.

Now that we have won it , the Pakistan cricket board should make arrangements to take the cup to every major city of the country -

May i suggest a welcome for the team in karachi from airport to mazar e quaid , where the team pays tribute to the father of the nation ? and in this way people get to welcome and see their heroes with the world cup .

Same can be done in other cities.

Time is short, as Pakistan has to go to srilanka to play test and odi series there, and then the icc trophy and other assignments.

PCB should manage time in b/w to make the cup travel to major cities of the country to allow people to feel the sense of ownership and patriotism.

Show us the Cup !

Welcome T20 worldcup pakistan

Pakistan finally won the T20 worldcup.
The win came at a time when nothing seemed to be going good for Pakistan either on political or sports front.

And a win was needed not just by the cricket team, but by the country itself which has been marred with all sorts of troubles over the last few years.

This was something the nation wanted to cheer themselves up and show the unity, passion and patriotism, and the win could not have come at a better time than this.

It was hearty to see people flogging on the streets and celeberating the win in a big style.

Ironically, Pakistan lost the 1999 world cup final on 20th june 1999. And finally they claimed it against a decade and a day later.

Shahid Afridi showed some character - being patient and taking singles rather than trying to hit out on every ball - which is very much unlikely shahid afridi and very much unlikiely pakistan.

There was no big hicup or trouble, pressure was eased away by the openers giving a decent start in the final and pakistan chased the runs down with 8 wickets to spare.

Never before I have seen Pakistan doing a run chase in this manner - either we would loose early wickets, or loose wickets in the middle and then the pressure would go to the lower order , who would either hit the winning runs in the last ball or last overs.

This time around the pressure was absorbed by the upper order and doing their bits.
Shahid Afridi seemed to play it cool , not trying to hit malinga , when he tried to bounce him , infact he nodded in appreciation about his bouncer , but did not try to hit him out on the next ball , some thing he has done almost thru out his career - he was one of those players who never liked to be bogged down - and always has the attitude for hit out or get out.

Also the team played well, the bowlers did their bit.

The re-induction of razzaq became vital for pakistan , as it was him that played a good role for pakistan against newzealand and then again in final by claiming three big and early wickets.

His presence really gave a boost to the bowling side which was other wise struggling.

All in all this was a welcome win for Pakistan and for the nation.

Also, considering the fact that none of the Pakistan players were allowed to play in the IPL.
My general thinking was that since Pakistan was not playing in the IPL they might be rusty and not in pracitce while other teams were having their players play the IPL and would be having enought practice to cope up at international level.

This proved otherwise.

Experience at IPL did not matter. Infact it was the ICL who was the winner - Razzaq., ex-icl players, being reinducted and becoming a major force for the Pakistani cricket team and doing his bit for the team -

While other teams complained about too much cricket played at the IPL, Pakistani players did their part.

The victory will go a long way for the nation who will have some time to smile ,cheer and talk about the win - and drfit their mind away from the regular doings of life , inflation , electric failure, ecnomic worries, politics and war on terror.

yeh cup kahan jayega ?

Being now qualified for the finals of the T20 2009 worldcup.Pakistan seems so near yet so far from the world cup title.
We have played and lost 1999 worldcup final - that too was in england.We played 2007 T20 worldcup final and lost tht by thin margin - more by luck than performance
and once again , its 2009 and we in the final of the T20 worldcup.
Pakistan fought well in the semi finals to beat south africa by 7 runs.Younus took 2 big gambles, which might have costed Pakistan the match , and would have put a big question mark on younus' decision .
The first was to make fawad alam bowl the 16th over, in which he gave away 15 runs.Fawad hadnt bowl thru out the tournament and he was given to bowl and important over of the match . this could have been make or brake over for pakistan.
and then not letting umer gul bowl his quota of 4 overs.no matter if the spinners were doing a good job ,you should make your best bowler bowl his full quota.
the only reason come to my mind for letting fawad bowl was that he was a left arm bowler , and dumminy was a left hander, his bowling might have worked some leg break for dumminy .
anyhow, all is well that ends well .
We are a nation starved of happiness as long as we remember .War ridden , war on terrorism , frequent disturbances in the country, bomb blasts, suicides -the nation is looking up to one thing which will surely cheer them up for a while and help them forget their woes.
Yeh cup yaheein ana chaiye.
Pakistani nationa needs the worldcup far more than any thing else , in these testing times.

Laptop keys got slow and cpu usage showing high usage

If one day you start you laptop and find out that the laptop keyboard has gotten slow.Not taking any input , or if it takes it takes a long while to appear.
Computer has gotten slow, programs are taking forever to open , maximize , minimize.You some how go to check the task manager and finds cpu usage around 80 % or very high.
DO nothing else , but remove your laptop battery and start running your laptop on power.
It is very much highly that your laptop batteries are worn out.
It took me a long while to diagnose this issue, so writing it up here, incase someone faces the same problems.