We all have goals in life. We all want to achieve these goals. But if you find yourself procrastinating lately -- well you are not alone.
So from today I have decided to use a new approach. I am going to spend an hour a day on a task that is of my personal choice. It can be going to gym or sketching out an idea or just working on some side project. Whatever it is, I am going to spend an hour a day on it.
I believe that this approach will help me focus on finishing off my personal task list, as well us get me refreshed for the rest of the day.
Think about it, an hour a day = 365 hours per year. And I am pretty sure I can do great things in 365hours. :)
Friday, October 9, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Stop Waiting For The Perfect Time..
I am not sure about you but a lot of people around me have advice me to wait for the perfect time to do something.
When I was young, I was told to wait for the perfect time to start having fun, and concentrate completely on my studies. I was told that this is the most important part of my life and once I graduate, with that shiny degree I would be able to do whatever I wish.
Once graduated, I was told to grab a job – start saving and once I have saved enough, paid my dues to the society I would be free to do whatever I wish.
And so on, I wonder when this cycle of advice will end and when will I be able to do “whatever” I wish?
The common theme across all the advice that I received was to meet a certain personal set of conditions before I can make the next move in my life. Now think about all the advices you received, the choices you made and realize that those were nothing but excuses. Blaming some outside force that we can’t control, creating obstacles that aren’t actually there. Soon I realized that this becomes a never ending trap. All sort of thoughts start to come to our mind. “I can’t pursue this dream unless I leave my job and I can’t leave my job since I need to pay bills”.
Another scenario is when we start thinking that we have thousand of problems in our life. We start to rant about anything that’s causing us to stress and fail to do anything to correct it. We get overwhelmed by our thoughts and eventually just give up.
The problem is that perfect time doesn’t exist. It’s illusive. It’s misleading. You will end up waiting for it all your life.
There will never be a perfect time to pursue your dreams, to do something valuable, to make a difference. No matter when you make these choices, there will always be a risk factor.
So my only advice to myself and people around me is to stop waiting. Create change in your life; create change in other people’s life. There is no such thing as “perfection” and there certainly isn’t any perfect time.
When I was young, I was told to wait for the perfect time to start having fun, and concentrate completely on my studies. I was told that this is the most important part of my life and once I graduate, with that shiny degree I would be able to do whatever I wish.
Once graduated, I was told to grab a job – start saving and once I have saved enough, paid my dues to the society I would be free to do whatever I wish.
And so on, I wonder when this cycle of advice will end and when will I be able to do “whatever” I wish?
The common theme across all the advice that I received was to meet a certain personal set of conditions before I can make the next move in my life. Now think about all the advices you received, the choices you made and realize that those were nothing but excuses. Blaming some outside force that we can’t control, creating obstacles that aren’t actually there. Soon I realized that this becomes a never ending trap. All sort of thoughts start to come to our mind. “I can’t pursue this dream unless I leave my job and I can’t leave my job since I need to pay bills”.
Another scenario is when we start thinking that we have thousand of problems in our life. We start to rant about anything that’s causing us to stress and fail to do anything to correct it. We get overwhelmed by our thoughts and eventually just give up.
The problem is that perfect time doesn’t exist. It’s illusive. It’s misleading. You will end up waiting for it all your life.
There will never be a perfect time to pursue your dreams, to do something valuable, to make a difference. No matter when you make these choices, there will always be a risk factor.
So my only advice to myself and people around me is to stop waiting. Create change in your life; create change in other people’s life. There is no such thing as “perfection” and there certainly isn’t any perfect time.
Pakistan: Generation Y vs Generation X
Watch this:
What do you think? Green side or Red side?
My thoughts will follow in a separate thread.
What do you think? Green side or Red side?
My thoughts will follow in a separate thread.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Your great (secret) startup idea -- sucks!
Your great (secret) startup idea -- sucks!
Even though you may be onto something but your startup idea probably sucks. See the thing is that we get so excited about our idea that we keep it close to our chest, so no one else can run with it and beat us to the punch.
Unfortunately, I have some bad news for you. There are at least 10 other people in this world who thought of exactly (or better) the same idea that you are guarding.
It is a well known fact that it is the execution of the idea that matters and not the idea itself.
So my advice to all you out there is to talk about your idea, talking with others will help you refine your idea, gather feedback and fine tune it for the launch.
So go out there and make that idea a reality. Talk to people, fix it, refine it and relaunch.
I am not interested in "waiting" for your "big idea" to be rolled out after 2 years. This world wants instant results. So build that first iteration with just one feature.
That's what we did for Mazaydar.
Even though you may be onto something but your startup idea probably sucks. See the thing is, we get so excited about our idea that we decide to keep it close to our chest, so no one else can run away with it and beat us to the punch.
Unfortunately, I have some bad news for you. There are at least 10 other people in this world who thought of exactly (or better) the same idea that you are guarding. It is a well known fact that it is the execution of the idea that matters and not the idea itself.
So my advice to all you out there is to talk about your idea, talking with others will help you refine your idea, gather feedback and fine tune it for the launch.
So go out there and make that idea a reality. Talk to people, fix it, refine it and relaunch.
I am not interested in "waiting" for your "big idea" to be rolled out after 2 years. This world wants instant results. So build that first iteration with just one feature.
That's what we did for Mazaydar.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Good UI Design Is Very Important...
While watch Alien vs Monster, I had a huge laugh at this scene.
I think this is just super-creative from Pixar.
Also check out the following video:
Be sure to get your interface in order before you confuse your customers.
I think this is just super-creative from Pixar.
Also check out the following video:
Be sure to get your interface in order before you confuse your customers.
Friday, September 25, 2009
If Only I Had .....
Have you ever found yourself saying:
If so, then its time you face the reality. You are killing your dream. You are stuck in a ever-lasting loop of self-defeating thoughts. If you are really motivated to do something extra-ordinary in your life, then you have to put your blood and sweat in it.
So go out there and build it. You might think that your idea has been implemented before, but there is always room for improvement. Find out what is lacking and build it better.
If only I had ____ I would succeed.
If so, then its time you face the reality. You are killing your dream. You are stuck in a ever-lasting loop of self-defeating thoughts. If you are really motivated to do something extra-ordinary in your life, then you have to put your blood and sweat in it.
So go out there and build it. You might think that your idea has been implemented before, but there is always room for improvement. Find out what is lacking and build it better.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
U Job Portal = U Failed Portal
So yesterday I read an interesting article on Green&White. UFone GSM has launched UJob Portal that allows customers to apply for jobs right from their mobile phones. Wow! About time! Well not really but let's not kill it right away shall we?
So how does UFone tell us all about this awesome feature?
Hmm.. "dream job" an "SMS" away. Yes that's what I want, I want you to spam with me SMS alerts for every single job that is posted on Rozee.pk --- like you couldn't just spam my inbox so I can look through them when I had a few minutes and apply for them with a proper resume.
To me this is a prime example of a product shoved into a space where it doesn't belong. It is uterly useless and someone at UFone should be held responsible for making this decision.
I am not even going to bother explaining why is it a bad idea from an employer's point of view, let alone candidate's point of view. But if you are looking for job, my personal recommendation to you would be NOT to use UJob to apply for a job. I know I won't hire you if you applied through the mobile.
So how does UFone tell us all about this awesome feature?
Finding your dream job is now, just an SMS away. U-Job Alerts now gives you access to thousands of job announcements as posted on Pakistan's Leading Job Portal, ROZEE.PK.
Hmm.. "dream job" an "SMS" away. Yes that's what I want, I want you to spam with me SMS alerts for every single job that is posted on Rozee.pk --- like you couldn't just spam my inbox so I can look through them when I had a few minutes and apply for them with a proper resume.
To me this is a prime example of a product shoved into a space where it doesn't belong. It is uterly useless and someone at UFone should be held responsible for making this decision.
I am not even going to bother explaining why is it a bad idea from an employer's point of view, let alone candidate's point of view. But if you are looking for job, my personal recommendation to you would be NOT to use UJob to apply for a job. I know I won't hire you if you applied through the mobile.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Cricket Revolution - Available on Sept 18, 09
So finally we hear from the Mind Storm Studios regarding their upcoming Cricket game. Cricket Revolution -- will be available from Steam on Sept 18, 2009.
I am excited about this release for two reasons:
1. It is a cricket game. Looks awesome and with P2P features, I can't wait to get my hands on it.
2. It is made by a Pakistani company. I don't even know of any other game that has been developed and released from Pakistani company.
It will be interesting to see how successful does this get. I am not sure if they are releasing any console versions of the game, so if the guys from Mindstorm Studio read this post, can you please comment on this?
I am excited about this release for two reasons:
1. It is a cricket game. Looks awesome and with P2P features, I can't wait to get my hands on it.
2. It is made by a Pakistani company. I don't even know of any other game that has been developed and released from Pakistani company.
It will be interesting to see how successful does this get. I am not sure if they are releasing any console versions of the game, so if the guys from Mindstorm Studio read this post, can you please comment on this?
Thursday, August 27, 2009
The more options there are, the easier it is to regret choice.
First watch this:
Very interesting and thought provoking. So what does this mean to us entrepreneurs who are trying to put a solution in front of our customers. If you are making a new social network, does it fall under the same problem? Too many choices for the end user and they might not be satisfied with your product.
I think it is important to consider this question when developing your product. Will your customers be able to identify it as something different, something new? Are you making just another ______ (whatever that is)? or are you creating a whole new product that will make your customers say "Gee I never thought I needed this solution until I saw this.."
It is very easy to fall into this trap. Don't go for the generic stuff, create a brand. Make yourself unique.
Very interesting and thought provoking. So what does this mean to us entrepreneurs who are trying to put a solution in front of our customers. If you are making a new social network, does it fall under the same problem? Too many choices for the end user and they might not be satisfied with your product.
I think it is important to consider this question when developing your product. Will your customers be able to identify it as something different, something new? Are you making just another ______ (whatever that is)? or are you creating a whole new product that will make your customers say "Gee I never thought I needed this solution until I saw this.."
It is very easy to fall into this trap. Don't go for the generic stuff, create a brand. Make yourself unique.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Introducing: PakTweeps.com
Today I am pleased to announce the launch of another small website -- PakTweeps.com, a directory of all Pakistanis on Twitter. The idea is to enable us Pakistanis find each other of specific interests on Twitter and connect with them. A lot of Pakistanis are now using Twitter, so a service like this can definitely help the newcomers connect with others easily.
How do you add yourself?
You simply click "Add Yourself To PakTweeps" button at the top right corner and follow the easy steps. You will need to tell us your home location (this can be anywhere in the world) and 3 tags that define you. For example, if you are a freelance developer from Karachi, then you enter Karachi as your city and your 3 tags can be: "Freelance", "Web Designer", "Graphic Designer".
Why should I tag myself correctly?
One of the beauty of our system is the ability to quickly find like-minded people. So it is important that you tag yourself correctly (as best as you can). This way others can find you easily and quickly under the appropriate categories.
What are these "recommendations"?
Ah, I am glad you asked! On PakTweeps, other fellow tweepers can add their two cents to your profile. This feature allows you to leave a recommendation for a fellow tweepers whom you might have gone school with or worked with or hired to get some work done. These can be total professional as well as personal recommendations.
What's next?
Now that you are done reading this blog post, go ahead and add yourself to the directory. It is easy to do takes less than a minute. If you do not have a twitter account please create one at www.twitter.com and join other fellow twitter users from Pakistan.
As always, we look forward to your opinions and suggestions on how to improve the site. This is just first iteration of our idea and I hope that you like what you see.
How do you add yourself?
You simply click "Add Yourself To PakTweeps" button at the top right corner and follow the easy steps. You will need to tell us your home location (this can be anywhere in the world) and 3 tags that define you. For example, if you are a freelance developer from Karachi, then you enter Karachi as your city and your 3 tags can be: "Freelance", "Web Designer", "Graphic Designer".
Why should I tag myself correctly?
One of the beauty of our system is the ability to quickly find like-minded people. So it is important that you tag yourself correctly (as best as you can). This way others can find you easily and quickly under the appropriate categories.
What are these "recommendations"?
Ah, I am glad you asked! On PakTweeps, other fellow tweepers can add their two cents to your profile. This feature allows you to leave a recommendation for a fellow tweepers whom you might have gone school with or worked with or hired to get some work done. These can be total professional as well as personal recommendations.
What's next?
Now that you are done reading this blog post, go ahead and add yourself to the directory. It is easy to do takes less than a minute. If you do not have a twitter account please create one at www.twitter.com and join other fellow twitter users from Pakistan.
As always, we look forward to your opinions and suggestions on how to improve the site. This is just first iteration of our idea and I hope that you like what you see.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Ramadan Mubarak
To all my readers Ramadan Mubarak! May Allah (SWT) bless us all with His mercy and give us all a chance to become better Muslims. InshaAllah.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
What's the value?
What's the value that you are bring to the table? What is the value that your product is bringing to the market?
Friday, August 14, 2009
Dear Pakistan
Dear Pakistan,
Happy birthday! Today you have turned 62 and I, like most other Pakistanis around the world, would like to wish you a very happy birthday. I hope you have many many more birthdays and that our generations to come salute you and respect you, more than this generation.
Now that I look back to my 25 years with you, I see that I haven't really contributed to your welfare. I haven't been there for you like you have been there for me. You gave me an identity, gave me a place to call my first home, gave me the memories of my childhood, gave me the beautiful urdu language, gave me an awesome cricket team (full of surprises), gave me the beautiful mountains and desserts and much more. It is unfortunate, that I could not give you back as much as I woul
As your 62nd birthday approaches I keep thinking of ways to wish you. I keep looking back at my 25 years with you and my experiences with you. 25 years might not be a long time but I can still remember the good days when people used to have their houses drenched with flags. We as kids used to be able to run around the streets playing cricket. Things weren't always bright, but as a little child I had my hopes up.
As I grew up, I realized how blessed I am to have you as my motherland. Even when the things seem to be all blue and you face
1948: Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the first governor general of Pakistan, passes away
1951: Prime minister Khan Liaqat Ali Khan assassinated
1956: The Constituent Assembly promulgates first indigenous constitution
1958: After a military coup dictorial Ayub Khan takes over
1960: Ayub Khan becomes first elected president
January 2 1964: Fatima Jinnah lost the presidential elections, Ayub completes the second term
1965: Second war between Pakistan and India over Kashmir
1969: Ayub Khan resigns; Yahya Khan declares martial law and assumes presidency
1971: East Pakistan attempts to secede, leading to civil war; India intervenes in support of East Pakistanis; Pakistan fights another war with India; East Pakistan breaks away to become Bangladesh; Yahya Khan resigns.
1972: Karachi labour unrest of 1972 and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto becomes president
1973: Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto becomes prime minister
1977: General Muhammad Zia ul-Haq overthrows prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and declares martial law
1978: General Muhammad Zia ul-Haq becomes Pakistan's sixth president
1979: Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto hanged
1979: The military ruler Zia Ul-Haq enacts the controversial Hudood Ordinances
1985: General elections held; Muhammad Khan Junejo becomes prime minister
1988: Zia dismisses Junejo's government; Zia dies in a plane crash; New elections held; Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto becomes prime minister
1988: Prominent Pashtun leadar Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan dies in Peshawar
1990: President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dismisses Benazir Bhutto government; Mian Nawaz Sharif becomes the next prime minister
1991: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif begins economic liberalisation programme. Islamic Shariah law formally incorporated into legal code.
1993: President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif both resign under pressure from military. Benazir Bhutto becomes prime minister for the second time
1996: President Farooq Leghari dismisses Bhutto government
1997: General elections held; Nawaz Sharif becomes prime minister for the second time
May 28 1998: Pakistan conducts nuclear tests
1999: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif overthrown in military coup led by General Pervez Musharraf
2001: General Pervez Musharraf dismissed the president and named himself to the post.
2002: General Pervez Musharraf wins a referendum thus ensures 5 more years in office
2002: First general elections since the 1999 military coup held; Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali becomes the next prime minister
2004: Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali resigns from office
2004: Shaukat Aziz is sworn in as prime minister
2005: A 7.5 magnitude earthquake kills an estimated 80,000 people in northern Pakistan. (see:2005 Pakistan earthquake)
2006: Pakistan army kills the prominent Baloch leader Nawab Akbar khan Bugti
2007: Chief Justice of Pakistan removed from office and reinstated. 2007 Karachi Riots. Lal Masjid Operation
2007: President Pervez Musharraf declares a 2007 Pakistani state of emergency and later removes it after domestic and international pressure
2007: Pakistani former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto assassinated
2008: Elections in Pakistan, results in new government to be formed in center and provinces.
2009: 16 March, 2009 As the result of long march Lawyers' Movement succeeded. Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry was restored as Chief Justice of Pakistan and other judges dismissed by Musharraf
Happy birthday! Today you have turned 62 and I, like most other Pakistanis around the world, would like to wish you a very happy birthday. I hope you have many many more birthdays and that our generations to come salute you and respect you, more than this generation.
Now that I look back to my 25 years with you, I see that I haven't really contributed to your welfare. I haven't been there for you like you have been there for me. You gave me an identity, gave me a place to call my first home, gave me the memories of my childhood, gave me the beautiful urdu language, gave me an awesome cricket team (full of surprises), gave me the beautiful mountains and desserts and much more. It is unfortunate, that I could not give you back as much as I woul
- Blessed to be with you
- Life in Pakistan
- The troubled time
- The rough road ahead
- What I will do for you
- What we can all do for you
- T20 World champions
As your 62nd birthday approaches I keep thinking of ways to wish you. I keep looking back at my 25 years with you and my experiences with you. 25 years might not be a long time but I can still remember the good days when people used to have their houses drenched with flags. We as kids used to be able to run around the streets playing cricket. Things weren't always bright, but as a little child I had my hopes up.
As I grew up, I realized how blessed I am to have you as my motherland. Even when the things seem to be all blue and you face
1948: Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the first governor general of Pakistan, passes away
1951: Prime minister Khan Liaqat Ali Khan assassinated
1956: The Constituent Assembly promulgates first indigenous constitution
1958: After a military coup dictorial Ayub Khan takes over
1960: Ayub Khan becomes first elected president
January 2 1964: Fatima Jinnah lost the presidential elections, Ayub completes the second term
1965: Second war between Pakistan and India over Kashmir
1969: Ayub Khan resigns; Yahya Khan declares martial law and assumes presidency
1971: East Pakistan attempts to secede, leading to civil war; India intervenes in support of East Pakistanis; Pakistan fights another war with India; East Pakistan breaks away to become Bangladesh; Yahya Khan resigns.
1972: Karachi labour unrest of 1972 and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto becomes president
1973: Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto becomes prime minister
1977: General Muhammad Zia ul-Haq overthrows prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and declares martial law
1978: General Muhammad Zia ul-Haq becomes Pakistan's sixth president
1979: Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto hanged
1979: The military ruler Zia Ul-Haq enacts the controversial Hudood Ordinances
1985: General elections held; Muhammad Khan Junejo becomes prime minister
1988: Zia dismisses Junejo's government; Zia dies in a plane crash; New elections held; Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto becomes prime minister
1988: Prominent Pashtun leadar Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan dies in Peshawar
1990: President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dismisses Benazir Bhutto government; Mian Nawaz Sharif becomes the next prime minister
1991: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif begins economic liberalisation programme. Islamic Shariah law formally incorporated into legal code.
1993: President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif both resign under pressure from military. Benazir Bhutto becomes prime minister for the second time
1996: President Farooq Leghari dismisses Bhutto government
1997: General elections held; Nawaz Sharif becomes prime minister for the second time
May 28 1998: Pakistan conducts nuclear tests
1999: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif overthrown in military coup led by General Pervez Musharraf
2001: General Pervez Musharraf dismissed the president and named himself to the post.
2002: General Pervez Musharraf wins a referendum thus ensures 5 more years in office
2002: First general elections since the 1999 military coup held; Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali becomes the next prime minister
2004: Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali resigns from office
2004: Shaukat Aziz is sworn in as prime minister
2005: A 7.5 magnitude earthquake kills an estimated 80,000 people in northern Pakistan. (see:2005 Pakistan earthquake)
2006: Pakistan army kills the prominent Baloch leader Nawab Akbar khan Bugti
2007: Chief Justice of Pakistan removed from office and reinstated. 2007 Karachi Riots. Lal Masjid Operation
2007: President Pervez Musharraf declares a 2007 Pakistani state of emergency and later removes it after domestic and international pressure
2007: Pakistani former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto assassinated
2008: Elections in Pakistan, results in new government to be formed in center and provinces.
2009: 16 March, 2009 As the result of long march Lawyers' Movement succeeded. Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry was restored as Chief Justice of Pakistan and other judges dismissed by Musharraf
1948: Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the first governor general of Pakistan, passes away
1951: Prime minister Khan Liaqat Ali Khan assassinated
1956: The Constituent Assembly promulgates first indigenous constitution
1958: After a military coup dictorial Ayub Khan takes over
1960: Ayub Khan becomes first elected president
January 2 1964: Fatima Jinnah lost the presidential elections, Ayub completes the second term
1965: Second war between Pakistan and India over Kashmir
1969: Ayub Khan resigns; Yahya Khan declares martial law and assumes presidency
1971: East Pakistan attempts to secede, leading to civil war; India intervenes in support of East Pakistanis; Pakistan fights another war with India; East Pakistan breaks away to become Bangladesh; Yahya Khan resigns.
1972: Karachi labour unrest of 1972 and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto becomes president
1973: Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto becomes prime minister
1977: General Muhammad Zia ul-Haq overthrows prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and declares martial law
1978: General Muhammad Zia ul-Haq becomes Pakistan's sixth president
1979: Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto hanged
1979: The military ruler Zia Ul-Haq enacts the controversial Hudood Ordinances
1985: General elections held; Muhammad Khan Junejo becomes prime minister
1988: Zia dismisses Junejo's government; Zia dies in a plane crash; New elections held; Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto becomes prime minister
1988: Prominent Pashtun leadar Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan dies in Peshawar
1990: President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dismisses Benazir Bhutto government; Mian Nawaz Sharif becomes the next prime minister
1991: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif begins economic liberalisation programme. Islamic Shariah law formally incorporated into legal code.
1993: President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif both resign under pressure from military. Benazir Bhutto becomes prime minister for the second time
1996: President Farooq Leghari dismisses Bhutto government
1997: General elections held; Nawaz Sharif becomes prime minister for the second time
May 28 1998: Pakistan conducts nuclear tests
1999: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif overthrown in military coup led by General Pervez Musharraf
2001: General Pervez Musharraf dismissed the president and named himself to the post.
2002: General Pervez Musharraf wins a referendum thus ensures 5 more years in office
2002: First general elections since the 1999 military coup held; Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali becomes the next prime minister
2004: Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali resigns from office
2004: Shaukat Aziz is sworn in as prime minister
2005: A 7.5 magnitude earthquake kills an estimated 80,000 people in northern Pakistan. (see:2005 Pakistan earthquake)
2006: Pakistan army kills the prominent Baloch leader Nawab Akbar khan Bugti
2007: Chief Justice of Pakistan removed from office and reinstated. 2007 Karachi Riots. Lal Masjid Operation
2007: President Pervez Musharraf declares a 2007 Pakistani state of emergency and later removes it after domestic and international pressure
2007: Pakistani former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto assassinated
2008: Elections in Pakistan, results in new government to be formed in center and provinces.
2009: 16 March, 2009 As the result of long march Lawyers' Movement succeeded. Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry was restored as Chief Justice of Pakistan and other judges dismissed by Musharraf
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Love Pakistan .. By Changing Your Twitter Pic?
When I first read a tweet from various Pakistani twitter users about @farhanmasood's initiative of creating twitter avatars with green background and such, I had a weird feeling (very weird). So today when I read on PakCrunch about this same topic and how Imran Hussain had a similar feeling, I was relieved.
I love my country, I don't need to prove it to anyone by my twitter stream. Actually I agree with Imran that no one cares how much you love your country. I think what is important to do this August 14th, is to make an aim. Yes we all love to make aims in life. So let's make an aim that whatever we are trying to do to improve Pakistan -- whether it is by starting a company, launching a new product, cleaning our neighbourhoods, helping others in whatever way possible -- whatever it is, let's keep on doing it.
Show your love for your country by your actions, not by tweets alone.
While I applaud Farhan for what he is doing, I really do think that his talent and skills can be put to better use rather than creating these avatars. We have bigger fishes to catch, we have bigger problems to solve. Let's use our talent for productive activities.
I love my country, I don't need to prove it to anyone by my twitter stream. Actually I agree with Imran that no one cares how much you love your country. I think what is important to do this August 14th, is to make an aim. Yes we all love to make aims in life. So let's make an aim that whatever we are trying to do to improve Pakistan -- whether it is by starting a company, launching a new product, cleaning our neighbourhoods, helping others in whatever way possible -- whatever it is, let's keep on doing it.
Show your love for your country by your actions, not by tweets alone.
While I applaud Farhan for what he is doing, I really do think that his talent and skills can be put to better use rather than creating these avatars. We have bigger fishes to catch, we have bigger problems to solve. Let's use our talent for productive activities.
Nobody Cares
Yes you read it right: nobody cares about your startup.
When you start with your little dream to create something super-amazing, you need to remember that nobody really cares about your idea or startup. You need to give them enough reasons to really believe in what you are doing is worth caring about.
This is hardwork, but then again, who said there is no hardwork in creating a startup? That's the fun of startup life.
When you start with your little dream to create something super-amazing, you need to remember that nobody really cares about your idea or startup. You need to give them enough reasons to really believe in what you are doing is worth caring about.
This is hardwork, but then again, who said there is no hardwork in creating a startup? That's the fun of startup life.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Dear GeoTV & ARY Digital
This morning I read an interesting article from ProPakistani, regarding the "Legal Status of Websites that Host Pakistani Talk Shows and Other TV Progrmmes". Now there are gazillions of website that are putting in the effort to convert the shows into digital media formats and offering them for download and even on-demand streaming. All of these ofcourse requires them to pay for the bandwidth, and clearly they are making enough to pay for this bandwidth.
So the question that ProPakistani (and others) raised was: How come no one from these TV channels taking a legal action against them?
Good question. There answer?
Ah! So they do admit that these websites are taking content without their permission. Good, next step? They have no clue. How can they?!? Have you seen their current web presence?
Lets take a look at that. I am going to talk about the two major channels in Pakistan: Geo TV & ARY Digital.
ARY Digital:
I am not even sure where to start from. Lets look at it from a non-designer point-of-view first.
That's my conservative list. I don't want to bore my non-technical friends.
From the design perspective:
Oh this list can be long, but I will stop here.
Now let's look at the other channel, Geo TV:
At least one thing that Geo did right was not to go with any weirdo color scheme. But after that its all down hill.
Non design related issues:
Here are my biggest design issues:
So with these kind of online presence how can they even think about taking any legal action against those sites. They have no way to provide that service to their customers, if it weren't for these illegal streaming websites.
Solution?
Hire a design firm. Seriously, these guys have enough reason and responsibility to hire a design firm to work with them on their website to bring the content to the users. There is some really valuable and noteworthy content, but content without style goes unnoticed.
TV networks in Pakistan need to realize the potential that they are sitting on. Opportunity is with them to get the best solution out there so that their viewers can really enjoy their content. Its not hard, its very doable.
I would've provided my design thoughts on how these websites should look like but that is for another day. I would love to hear from someone at Geo and ARY on why is their site so badly designed. Its a long shot but hope never hurts.
So the question that ProPakistani (and others) raised was: How come no one from these TV channels taking a legal action against them?
Good question. There answer?
“Of course it’s illegal, we never allowed anyone copy our videos – they are doing so without rights”
Ah! So they do admit that these websites are taking content without their permission. Good, next step? They have no clue. How can they?!? Have you seen their current web presence?
Lets take a look at that. I am going to talk about the two major channels in Pakistan: Geo TV & ARY Digital.
ARY Digital:
I am not even sure where to start from. Lets look at it from a non-designer point-of-view first.- Who decided to use IFrames? Call him up and tell him that the world has moved on and then fire him.
- Image swap on navigation menu? Are you kidding me? Seriously, I want to know.
- What's up with all the flying-and-dashing Flash content?
That's my conservative list. I don't want to bore my non-technical friends.
From the design perspective:
- Some colors appeal to certain demographics, some are trendy, some have universal appeal, some are boring; others invoke no reaction. The color that ARY Digital picked for their website is just simply horrible and unpleasant.
- The layout has no structure to it.
- Links open in a new window (or they just open within the IFrame and I can't bookmark them)
- No social network integration. I am not even sure why am I saying this. I mean I didn't really expect them to have that understanding anyways.
- No clear way to see how the TV programs are categorized.
Oh this list can be long, but I will stop here.
Now let's look at the other channel, Geo TV:
At least one thing that Geo did right was not to go with any weirdo color scheme. But after that its all down hill.Non design related issues:
- No SEO optimization
- Please give up on table based layouts
- Hey, at least they are not using IFrames
- Why do links to Geo ME, Geo Japan etc open in a new window?
Here are my biggest design issues:
- No structure to the website.
- What's up with a small font-size?
- Ads by Google? Are you serious? What happened to your sales team?
- The navigation on the left has everything but what the user is looking for. Which shows are aired on Geo?
So with these kind of online presence how can they even think about taking any legal action against those sites. They have no way to provide that service to their customers, if it weren't for these illegal streaming websites.
Solution?
Hire a design firm. Seriously, these guys have enough reason and responsibility to hire a design firm to work with them on their website to bring the content to the users. There is some really valuable and noteworthy content, but content without style goes unnoticed.
TV networks in Pakistan need to realize the potential that they are sitting on. Opportunity is with them to get the best solution out there so that their viewers can really enjoy their content. Its not hard, its very doable.
I would've provided my design thoughts on how these websites should look like but that is for another day. I would love to hear from someone at Geo and ARY on why is their site so badly designed. Its a long shot but hope never hurts.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Selling My Macbook Pro
After spending a good time with my Macbook, I have decided that its time to sell it.
This machine has the following:
- Specs are:
· 2.4GHz Processor
· 15" Glossy LCD (1440x900 maximum resolution)
· 4GB RAM (UPGRADED!!!!)
· 160GB Hard Drive
· NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 128mb
· Backlit Keyboard · Bluetooth 2.0
· Airport Extreme wireless
· Superdrive.
· FW 800 and 400.
· 2x USB ports
After spending a good time with my Macbook, I have decided that its time to sell it. I am selling it for $1250 CDN + shipping. If you are in Ottawa or GTA area than we can arrange a pickup/dropoff location and save on shipping.
This machine has the following:
- Specs are:
- 2.4GHz Processor
- 15" Glossy LCD (1440x900 maximum resolution)
- 4GB RAM (UPGRADED!!!!)
- 160GB Hard Drive
- NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 128mb
- Backlit Keyboard · Bluetooth 2.0
- Airport Extreme wireless
- Superdrive.
- FW 800 and 400.
- 2x USB ports
This laptop was bought in Sept 2007. Never had any issues with the laptop. This machine also comes with a plastic transparent case (www.macbook-case.com).
If you have any question please feel free to contact me.
[gallery link="file"]
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Twitter & Facebook = Fake Relationships?
Does it really matter how popular you are in these social networks?
I always found that I share my best ideas and find great pleasure in having discussions with real life friends. Even from these social networks, I have friends that I know in person. These are the people that I have exchanged thoughts and ideas and done business with. These are the people whom I can tweet or poke to get opinions from. I don't need 1,000 followers on Twitter to be productive, I just need true friends on these networks. Whenever someone contacts me through Twitter or Facebook, I end up having a quick phone chat with them, ensuring that we both connect not just via keyboards. I always found that this quick phone call goes a long way in creating a long term relationships.
So remember all those friends that you have on Facebook and Twitter are those who were too embarrased to click on the ignore button on your "add me" request. The real friends are those whom you have a working relationships with.
So how many real life friends do you have?
I always found that I share my best ideas and find great pleasure in having discussions with real life friends. Even from these social networks, I have friends that I know in person. These are the people that I have exchanged thoughts and ideas and done business with. These are the people whom I can tweet or poke to get opinions from. I don't need 1,000 followers on Twitter to be productive, I just need true friends on these networks. Whenever someone contacts me through Twitter or Facebook, I end up having a quick phone chat with them, ensuring that we both connect not just via keyboards. I always found that this quick phone call goes a long way in creating a long term relationships.
So remember all those friends that you have on Facebook and Twitter are those who were too embarrased to click on the ignore button on your "add me" request. The real friends are those whom you have a working relationships with.
So how many real life friends do you have?
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Build a business, don't try to get rich.
It is not that we have a short space of time, but that we waste much of it. Life is long enough, and it has been given in sufficiently generous measure to allow the accomplishment of the very greatest things if the whole of it is well invested.
The path to wealth is not the love of money. If you want to be rich one day fall in love with a business that you own. Be passionate about its success and love it like you would a child. Don't worry about getting rich, that is something that happens while you are not watching.
A nice reminder for myself on why I am interested in startups.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Cricinfo Redesign
Yesterday, I woke up to a nice surprise. Cricinfo had launched a redesign of their website. I had a mixed reaction to the change. Cricinfo is the largest cricket website on the web. Below is a quick overview of the traffic statistics for Cricinfo.com
So what is good or bad about the new design?
The Good:
1. Improved navigation bar. The top navigation bar is a bit of a relief to find your way around cricinfo. Previously, these options were buried under a pile of other useless stuff, making it hard to use the website to the fullest.
2. News and video highlights. The core of the site is the instant news about the cricketing world, and they have done an excellent job in highlighting that part of the website. Making it easy to gaze over the latest news and consume it.
3. Scores. A bit mroe detailed score right on the right-hand panel. Makes my life much much easier.
4. Scorecard. Beter colors and layout. The ugly toolbar on the left is gone (woho!) and it gives the actual scorecard a bit more breathing room.
The Bad:
1. Hard to focus on certain portions of the website. I think the background gradient distracts the reader. A boxed container to overlay the gradient would have helped a lot.
2. Scorecard. The tabbed navigation is just over used. Everything is crammed on a single page and tabs are used to organize them. Tabs within a tab ain't good for usability. Another nifty idea, gone wrong is the commentary along with the batsmen dismissal. I think this is a neat feature but gone wrong. So far, for me, in a live game this info is always wrong.
Overall:
I think this is a positive step towards a nice redesign. I am sure they will work on some of the quirks in coming weeks and fix it up.
So what is good or bad about the new design?
The Good:
1. Improved navigation bar. The top navigation bar is a bit of a relief to find your way around cricinfo. Previously, these options were buried under a pile of other useless stuff, making it hard to use the website to the fullest.
2. News and video highlights. The core of the site is the instant news about the cricketing world, and they have done an excellent job in highlighting that part of the website. Making it easy to gaze over the latest news and consume it.
3. Scores. A bit mroe detailed score right on the right-hand panel. Makes my life much much easier.
4. Scorecard. Beter colors and layout. The ugly toolbar on the left is gone (woho!) and it gives the actual scorecard a bit more breathing room.
The Bad:
1. Hard to focus on certain portions of the website. I think the background gradient distracts the reader. A boxed container to overlay the gradient would have helped a lot.
2. Scorecard. The tabbed navigation is just over used. Everything is crammed on a single page and tabs are used to organize them. Tabs within a tab ain't good for usability. Another nifty idea, gone wrong is the commentary along with the batsmen dismissal. I think this is a neat feature but gone wrong. So far, for me, in a live game this info is always wrong.
Overall:
I think this is a positive step towards a nice redesign. I am sure they will work on some of the quirks in coming weeks and fix it up.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Google Wave - What Does It Mean?
If you are a nerd, or a technology enthusiast, then you must have heard about Google Wave. I mean literally it was all across the web, from twitter to techcrunch (aren't they both the same?) Anyways, if somehow you missed it here is a video that you must watch.
So what is wave? why am I talking about it? While the demo itself is simply amazing and the application looks like the next generation of Gmail evolution, what excites me more than anything is behind the scene technology.
If you are a web developer you might remember those good old days of web, when Javascript was a "client-side validation" scripting thingy. Now with the new and upcoming HTML 5 and Javascript ECMAScript5 coming to almost all browsers, we are seeing a new powerful platform. One that can help us built really high quality web applications.
So what's all that special about HTML 5?
To get some context around this, let me recap what we currently use. Most of the websites (pretty much all of them) are currently on HTML 4 standard -- which is a decade old standard. Web has evolved therefore HTML standard needed to evolve too.
So HTML 5 is being developed since 2004 and so far it is still being specd out. Which means that it will change over the next year or so before it is finalized, but the guts are out there now.
I won't go into a lot of details about HTML5 in this post but would like to touch upon two things that really stood out for me:
1. Structure
How many times you have defined your HTML with class/id attributes structure it with header, footer, content, sidebar etc? HTML5 fixes this issue by providing new elements for representing each of these different sections. So elements like <header>, <nav>, <aside>, <article>, <footer> etc.
Makes it better for everyone to write and read the HTML code. Search engines can target your content and designers get to leverage it as well.
2. Video & Audio
We all have been embedding youtube videos for a while now. There is one in this blog post. HTML really didn't have any way to allow embedding video and audio content easily into a website. So people had to use flash. So now in HTML5 we have an <video> and <audio> tags. Along with DOM API to manipulate and interact with the video and audio.
There is a lot more to the story. I will write in more details about the upcoming Javascript changes and what it means to us web developers. I am truly excited at the possibilities that it will bring to the web.
So what is wave? why am I talking about it? While the demo itself is simply amazing and the application looks like the next generation of Gmail evolution, what excites me more than anything is behind the scene technology.
If you are a web developer you might remember those good old days of web, when Javascript was a "client-side validation" scripting thingy. Now with the new and upcoming HTML 5 and Javascript ECMAScript5 coming to almost all browsers, we are seeing a new powerful platform. One that can help us built really high quality web applications.
So what's all that special about HTML 5?
To get some context around this, let me recap what we currently use. Most of the websites (pretty much all of them) are currently on HTML 4 standard -- which is a decade old standard. Web has evolved therefore HTML standard needed to evolve too.
So HTML 5 is being developed since 2004 and so far it is still being specd out. Which means that it will change over the next year or so before it is finalized, but the guts are out there now.
I won't go into a lot of details about HTML5 in this post but would like to touch upon two things that really stood out for me:
1. Structure
How many times you have defined your HTML with class/id attributes structure it with header, footer, content, sidebar etc? HTML5 fixes this issue by providing new elements for representing each of these different sections. So elements like <header>, <nav>, <aside>, <article>, <footer> etc.
Makes it better for everyone to write and read the HTML code. Search engines can target your content and designers get to leverage it as well.
2. Video & Audio
We all have been embedding youtube videos for a while now. There is one in this blog post. HTML really didn't have any way to allow embedding video and audio content easily into a website. So people had to use flash. So now in HTML5 we have an <video> and <audio> tags. Along with DOM API to manipulate and interact with the video and audio.
There is a lot more to the story. I will write in more details about the upcoming Javascript changes and what it means to us web developers. I am truly excited at the possibilities that it will bring to the web.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
PakTranslations.com - A small redesign
I love cool technology. Maybe it is the nerd in me that gets excited after seeing something awesome but I sure do love cool technology.
One such great technology is powered by PakTranslations.com - To see how awesome the technology is you can see the urdu version of Mazaydar.com!
So what's this blog post all about? While I love their technology, one thing that bothered me was their UI. I think they can make the site and technology a great hit if can make users life easier. They already have a great way to do it but its sorta hidden.
So I spent about an hour or so last night, while I couldn't sleep and came up with this small mock layout.
Some thoughts behind the layout:
1. My goal was to keep the focus on the cool technology. I certainly didn't spend too much time on the logo, which can certainly use some work
2. The "Instant Translation" is a nifty feature. Users need to know that they can place http://www.paktranslations.com/? infront of any url to get it translated.
3. Bookmarklets are also awesome, I have been using them and they are just simply great to translate anything instantly.
I think the whole website is an amazing idea, a much needed innovation coming out of Pakistan. I am sure as they progress the technology will just keep getting better and better. But I also strongly believe that a good technology which isnt' accessible is not worth much. People need to be able to use the technology easily to be able to provide feedback that is needed.
Note: The design is totally opensource for PakTranslations team to adapt.
One such great technology is powered by PakTranslations.com - To see how awesome the technology is you can see the urdu version of Mazaydar.com!
So what's this blog post all about? While I love their technology, one thing that bothered me was their UI. I think they can make the site and technology a great hit if can make users life easier. They already have a great way to do it but its sorta hidden.
So I spent about an hour or so last night, while I couldn't sleep and came up with this small mock layout.
Some thoughts behind the layout:
1. My goal was to keep the focus on the cool technology. I certainly didn't spend too much time on the logo, which can certainly use some work
2. The "Instant Translation" is a nifty feature. Users need to know that they can place http://www.paktranslations.com/? infront of any url to get it translated.
3. Bookmarklets are also awesome, I have been using them and they are just simply great to translate anything instantly.
I think the whole website is an amazing idea, a much needed innovation coming out of Pakistan. I am sure as they progress the technology will just keep getting better and better. But I also strongly believe that a good technology which isnt' accessible is not worth much. People need to be able to use the technology easily to be able to provide feedback that is needed.
Note: The design is totally opensource for PakTranslations team to adapt.
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