Monday, October 19, 2009

NUS still at #30 while NTU continues to fall

National University of Singapore retained it's position in the world rankings this time around - great news for the university and its students!

Harvard is #1 as usual, while my favourite, Princeton, is still at #8. Australian National University is at #17 now and even McGill is doing decently, at #18. Brown, an ivy league, is now below NUS (at #31)!

The major challenger of NUS in the university education market in Singapore, Nanyang Technological University has fallen further down to #73 - surely there must be something they're not doing right. But at the same time, they must be doing something right since they haven't had a significant drop in the past 4 years or so (it was at #61 in 2006). However, when top schools like Purdue are hovering at #87, Singapore universities should be content with what they got.

But what I learnt after making my previous post on university rankings is that they don't really represent all that a university has to offer. They focus a lot on research publications by the universities, which is why top schools continue to retain their top positions because of all the Nobel prizes they have accumulated in the past couple of centuries (I'm exaggerating!). And then of course, the results are naturally skewed towards US universities, no matter how hard they try to remove the bias.

Needless to say, I am glad my university has such achievements that I can boast about.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Crossed the Uncle Barrier

Had my first surprise birthday party last night. It was a mini one; simple yet elegant. And very surprising indeed. Coordinated by my oldest friend's younger sister, I'm glad about the people who did show up. They would pretty much make my close friends' list, with some major inclusions, of course.

I turned 26, which I think is the official age when a person can not be offended if called an uncle or an aunt. The first time I was called an uncle was when I was 12 (the person who called me 'uncle' was 17.) After 14 years of getting offended, I will now make a conscious effort on my part not to get offended if called an uncle. 'Nabeel Uncle'. Hah!

Slept very late, very little and then woke up early to only partially complete an assignment. Made it to the first class, then rushed back to change into formals. I just had to attend at least one of the P&G recruitment talks in NUS. It was quite useless though. All the information you need is on the website. After attending my second class in formals, I rushed back to PGP to change into my Squash gear, only to rush for a match I was sure to lose - and lost not as gracefully as I could have, I suppose. The IFG will soon be over for the FASS Squash team. Sad.

Now I shall shower to proceed with the business that is my birthday, and head down to commonwealth to distribute some flyers for the Pub Crawl I am helping organise. The party is exactly one week from now and I wait in earnest. Imagine! About 500 people, mostly comprising exchange students, from all the major universities of Singapore, wearing the same t-shirt, with funny things written on each one of them. As we head down from Boon Lay MRT to our final destination, the party will be lead to a new club opening.

So I am distributing flyers on my birthday. And then maybe I will hang out with the sister and the friends if they are present. There is nothing to be happy about though. I mean, it's my birthday, but so what. I turned 26. I have so much to do in my life and less time left now. What is there to celebrate or to be jeery about?

I removed my birthday from Facebook. I only wanted those people to wish me who really remembered (and naturally some who would notice other people's wishes on my wall to find out and wish too). Indeed, it has been a successful experiment. I got more personal and direct birthday wishes by sms or calls. Much better than 100 wall posts from people who just want me to reply back and create some action on their dull walls.

The real reason not to be happy, however, would be that my friend Rashmi passed away a few days ago. Despite all the nasty things in 2009, typhoid got to her, and the always-smiling, pleasant girl I shared so much (platonic) love with, passed away. All the YIP people found out last night, and teary calls were exchanged across continents (YIP = Youth Initiative for Peace). It sucks that such a beautiful person passed away. I hope that her sister and mother have the courage to deal with this, especially since they have already lost the male member of the family five years ago. I can not imagine their pain.

Here is an excerpt from one of the emails Rashmi sent to Pavi in recent times, followed by a testimonial that Rashmi wrote for me in 2003:
but this year is diff, its the phoenix's rise. crazy but feel like im entering womahood and its intoxicating. this past one month, ive seen things through such a different lens that i don't seem to know the person i was before that. phew. pretty good, huh.

ive been tingling with insights beyond my intellectually much scoffed at books. sensing my paths-to-be and sidestepping rocks. stories from a diff time are talking effortlessly to me people have been opening their innerworlds to me without our knowledge.

maybe im just living on a cloud, its easy being on this frozen island. or maybe this really is a new life unravelled. maybe its preparation for the next hundred years of sunrises and hearbreaks. or maybe it'll all be blown away in the wind at dawn tomorrow. now, i sound like im going to the battlefield,lol. but you must know i love you true. and don't care what you think or do, as long as you can see the ray of sunlight on my palm that i stole just for you.

in solidarity and other big words,
rushme

She had a full life, and I hope she is in a better place now, looking down at us, smiling as always. She will be missed.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Free SMS to Pakistan from the Internet

It has been MONTHS since I've been searching for a reliable way to send 'SMS messages' (Short Message Service) to Pakistan. On a side-note, I think "SMS Message" is a case of RAS Syndrome (or Redundant Acronym Syndrome Syndrome) - it's not perfectly clear if it is, though.

There was a time somewhere around 2007 when any Internet user could send Mobilink subscribers messages from the Mobilink website. Not any more. This was back when sms2pk.com also gained much popularity but the site doesn't function any more. Nothing works. And sending international SMS is expensive.

I don't understand why mobile service providers wouldn't want to provide such a service free of charge. Consider a typical scenario when an expatriate wants to SMS back home. I will either send less messages to save cost, or not send them at all. Usually it is so expensive that I might as well just call if I must communicate. Unless, of course, I find a way to send SMS from the Internet for free. Generally, the person I message will end up replying to my cell phone ($$$ for the mobile service provider) or replying to the online applet I used to SMS (again, $$$ for the mobile service provider). So I don't understand why mobile service providers in Pakistan do not offer this service ( especially when they are advanced enough to allow Facebook updates and what not just by sending a message to some number).

I tried searching blogs and Internet forums to find a service that at least talked about this service but the only useful thread I found had posts made in 2006 or 2007, and the others were also useless.

For Singapore, at least SingTel and Starhub allow Internet SMS. SingTel Internet SMS is a little troublesome, because you have to register with the site, but at least anyone can register - it is not limited to SingTel subscribers only. Starhub WebSMS is the absolute best! That is how simple and convenient it should be. And it is a great service to offer subscribers, isn't it? You're enabling communication and making a few extra bucks at the same time - what else does a mobile service provider do?

Currently, the WaridTel website PROBABLY offers such a feature, but only for its subscribers and to sign up, you must enter your Warid number. Isn't that just like chopping off your own feet? IF they offer this service for free, only limited to their subscribers, they're just losing out on the money they could make. Anyway, I am not even sure if that service works. I will have to ask a friend to let me use his number to register for an account (when you register, they send the activation code to the number by SMS).

I also registered for isms.pk which is in beta mode and promises to send free SMS to any number in Pakistan. They have yet to email me my password yet, and if the email never arrives, that means the site has failed already. I learned of this website from that expired thread I spoke of earlier.

From a political perspective, I'm guessing that such a service may not be possible any time soon thanks Mr 10%'s insecurity when he got the interior minister to ban ANY kind of jokes about him (or the government) - all SMS messages and email messages containing indecent, provocative and ill-motivated stories against the civilian leadership (primarily making fun of Zardari) are considered criminal offences, with 14 years in prison as the maximum sentence. Yeah, they're still calling it a democracy.
*chuckle*

I want to send free SMS to Pakistan!

(Note to mobile service providers: Paid is also fine as long as it's dirt-cheap - but then it mustn't have daily limits, heh. Mastercard/Visa payment please.)

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Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Is Facebook past its prime?

http://www.macworld.com/article/141565/2009/07/facebook.html
Is Facebook past its prime? | by Hillary Rhodes, PC World

To add my two cents, I use Facebook primarily for the hot debates (politics/religion) when friends post articles (I'm Pakistani, so you can imagine there is loads to debate about).

And secondly, it IS a good tool to stay in touch with friends and family - even distant relatives, as they upload pictures and videos and the comments allow us to record our reactions after seeing them. Status updates are another way to connect with other people and are excellent for extroverts.

Of course people go overboard with these two things I mentioned as well, and on occasion I might have done that too, but the only worst-case scenario is that people will 'hide' your posts. Which is perfectly fine - you only want those people to listen to you who WANT to listen to you.

I don't care for the quizzes and the games myself. Facebook was almost destroyed when the apps took over, almost a year ago. Right now the quizzes are playing the same role. I really think Facebook doesn't need to evolve much - just stay the same so that we can explain how to adjust privacy settings to our grandparents (when they secretly get in touch with their high school sweethearts and need to hide that interaction from their wives).

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Friday, July 17, 2009

On an Article Posted On Today

http://www.todayonline.com/voices/EDC090717-0000059/You-can-eat-in-your-own-car

What a ridiculous point of view! Eat in your own car? The majority doesn't have cars in Singapore. That sounds like the sort of thing a spoilt brat would say, who doesn't understand reality. (You know the type - they were born with silver spoons in their mouths, they went to the best schools and everywhere they went, the doors opened up for them. They never understand the plight of the common man who suffers through life everyday.)

And they deployed FIVE HUNDRED people to get this done? I didn't know that. Isn't it a little extreme? You want people to live in fear every day, every time they go some where? See how freaked people are now?

You know what I think is more despicable than some spillage on the train floor? An old man standing and two rows of young people just sitting there. Why don't you fine that and make Singaporeans a little more civil? Clearly your announcements telling people to let people out of train doors before they push their way in fall on deaf ears. Civility does not come naturally to some people - especially the ones who are used to being fined before they start doing the right thing.

Besides, I've seen more vomit-covered train floors than water or coke. Having meals on a train should be fined though, sure, why not. But if you think about it, CCTVs might be a cheaper choice in the long run (you can just put up dummy CCTVs - people would never know and they would be equally effective!).

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Golf ≠ Sport

A Golfer needs complete silence to hit something laying on the ground, yet a Baseball/Cricket player has to deal with screaming fans and a ball flying at them at 90 km/h. Something's fishy here.

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The Bro Code - Barney Stinson (complete)

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Bro Code.pdf (22039 KB)

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Thursday, June 25, 2009

If I believe in Recycling, how do I deal with Cultural backlash?

Sometimes there is such a disparity between culture and beliefs that it encumbers you. I wish to go for a conference on recycling in Romania, but the people I grew up with - in fact - the society I grew up in - especially close friends and family, scorn at ideas such as recycling, social responsibility and such.

It is true, my mother did teach us not to throw garbage on the streets. She taught us to try to utilize every blank spot on a piece of paper before moving on to the next one. As a mother and a school teacher, she even taught us to buy those disgusting pink-coloured 'rough copies' which are made from recycled paper in Pakistan. But when we all grew up, most of us preferred to use paper cups and plates instead of reusing porcelain ones.

Studying with a sibling in a foreign university, we often bicker about washing dishes amongst each other and friends after cooking every meal. My kid sisters who are visiting me in Singapore surprise me by the amount of paper they waste, tearing them out one by one just because of an accidental line here and a mistake there.

Awareness is not embedded in our society. It is an acquired attitude. In a corporate environment where a mistake is treated like it is the end of the world, to send out just one letter on behalf of a CEO could require up to 20 pages or even more paper being wasted in the process of rectification. To have a sip of water means wasting an 'expanded polystyrene foam' (Styrofoam) cup, when it could easily be reused while taking care of proper hygiene at the same time.

It is difficult for me to accept these things because I notice and I can not do anything about it. But of course, I am no angel myself. Being a smoker, I have extinguished thousands of cigarette butts and thrown them around unconsciously, not realising these are pieces of foam that are not bio-degradable. While at university, I have made a countless number of reprints when submitting research papers and sundry, in the name of 'presentation', for if I were to edit a printed paper using pen, it would look messy to the professor. But of course, I am able to justify each such instance that reveals my hypocrisy with regards to the cause of recycling and environmental sustainability. Human beings are justifying machines, but we can always try, can we not? That is what they say about following religion anyway, so why not a social cause?

Recycle IN is the first International Conference on recycling organized by AIESEC Timisoara, being held from July 30 to May 6, 2009. Through this conference, this branch of AIESEC in Romania is hoping to inform and educate participants (as well as the Timisoara populace) about issues such as recycling, sustainability and being friendly to the environment. The conference is split into three tracks: Out-of-service Auto Vehicles if you have an interest in the automotive industry, Waste Products to learn about recycling processes for common materials, and Electronics and Appliances for those with an interest in the Physics or History of Electronics and how they are recycled.

The conference application form is very basic and simple to fill, and the fee is just 90 Euros including meals and accommodation for EIGHT days! With that deal one can also save money to visit Serbia or Hungary.

The issue for me now is: how can I wake up this morning and sign up for a conference on recycling when I had dinner in Styrofoam plates and cups just last night?

I may blame society for inhibiting me from taking an active stance against environmentally unfriendly behaviour, but the fact is, I still allow it. It is still within my control. To resolve this disparity between culture and beliefs, I have no choice but to develop a consistent attitude, whether my close friends and family like it or not. I must minimize my hypocrisy with regards to this issue by being more environmentally friendly, whether I sign up for the conference or not. People might think I am rude for pointing out such things, but I can live with that, as long as there is some positive impact. (After all, I am still alive after pointing out facial hair and pimples on women a countless number of times!)

In the end, everyone of us likes to believe that we are good human beings (despite all the nasty and selfish things that we know we have done). So why not be proactive and assertive as we adopt better attitudes to become better human beings? The world is our stage and we are the actors, but when will we actually start doing something?

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Monday, June 22, 2009

Hold Me?

Hold Me by Savage Garden  
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02 Hold Me.mp3 (9123 KB)

Standing face to face, Enemies at war we build defences, And secret hiding places...

More than angry words I hate this silence, It's getting so loud, Well I want to scream, But bitterness has silenced these emotions, It's getting hard to breathe....

I'm willing to do anything, To calm the storm in my heart. I've never been the praying kind, But lately I've been down upon my knees. Not looking for a miracle, Just a reason to believe....

Now we don't live we exist, We just run through our lives; So alone....


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Friday, June 19, 2009

Remaking Women

I absolutely must must MUST get hold of this book and read it - whatever the cost may be!


(Remaking Women: Feminism and Modernity in the Middle East - Lila Abu Lughod; Princeton Studies in Culture/Power/History)

In fact, this is not the only book on this topic that I want to read - there are so many others...

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Monday, June 15, 2009

Judgments of Food and Finances Influence Preferences for Potential Partners

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resource-scarcity.pdf (129 KB)

Cultural psychology can be roughly understood as the combination of two theoretical perspectives—first, that people are very different in different cultures, and second, that some attributes are culturally universal (Fiske et al., 1998).

In the broader quest to determine which aspects of culture are universal and which are relative, one must look beyond specific norms and practices to the underlying processes that produced them.

(Portions of this research were presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology, San Antonio, Texas, February 2001, and at the annual meeting of the Society for Judgment and Decision Making, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, November 2003.)

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Monday, June 8, 2009

We Will Not Go Down (Song for Gaza)

We Will Not Go Down (Gaza) by Michael Heart  
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we_will_not_go_down_6502.mp3 (4382 KB)

(Composed by Michael Heart)
Copyright 2009

A blinding flash of white light
Lit up the sky over Gaza tonight
People running for cover
Not knowing whether they’re dead or alive

They came with their tanks and their planes
With ravaging fiery flames
And nothing remains
Just a voice rising up in the smoky haze

We will not go down
In the night, without a fight
You can burn up our mosques and our homes and our schools
But our spirit will never die
We will not go down
In Gaza tonight

Women and children alike
Murdered and massacred night after night
While the so-called leaders of countries afar
Debated on who’s wrong or right

But their powerless words were in vain
And the bombs fell down like acid rain
But through the tears and the blood and the pain
You can still hear that voice through the smoky haze

We will not go down
In the night, without a fight
You can burn up our mosques and our homes and our schools
But our spirit will never die
We will not go down
In Gaza tonight
 
All Music and Content Copyrighted. All rights reserved. © 2009

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Monday, June 1, 2009

Obliterated History

May 10, 2009 passed without any official or unofficial event in Pakistan to remember that historic day of May 10, 1857 when a last, ill-planned, and fatal attempt was made to get rid of the overweening English traders who were becoming de facto rulers of the vast subcontinent. What began on that Sunday morning in the town of Meerut would be later called "Ghadar" (Mutiny), "the Great Rebellion", "the Indian Mutiny", "the Revolt of 1857", "the Uprising of 1857", the "Sepoy Mutiny" by those who wrote its history for the colonized people of India and inserted this appellation in the textbooks which were to be used for generations.

When we went to school, we read about the "Ghadar" and Sayyid Ahmad Khan's account of the "Reasons for Ghadar". The appellation may have now changed to "India's First War of Independence", but there is certainly very little public discourse on the larger and long-term changes which followed that historic day.

Crushed with brutal force, this last armed resistance against the occupation of India came to an end on June 20, 1858, when Gwalior fell. A reign of terror followed. Men were tied to the mouths of cannons and blown to pieces, as Richard Holmes has vividly described in his 2005 book, Sahib: The British Soldier in India 1750-1914. A note from General Montgomery to Captain Hudson, "the butcher of Delhi" exposes how the British military high command approved cold-blooded massacre of general populace of Delhi, reminiscent of Halagu Khan's massacre of the residents of Baghdad in 1258: "All honour to you for catching the king and slaying his sons. I hope you will bag many more!"

A policy of "no prisoners" was adopted, whole villages were wiped out on the flimsiest rumours of sympathy for the local soldiers.

An estimated ten million Indians lost their lives, as Amaresh Misra describes in his two volume work, War of Civilisations: India AD 1857, published in 2008. Back in England, the accounts of atrocities of the British "Army of Retribution" were generally considered justified in the wake of exaggerated press accounts of Indian "savagery" against the "Europeans and Christians". During a year of terror that followed the events of May 1857, and for a long time to come, India went through a gigantic transformation which must be considered as one of the largest and most cruel experiment in social reengineering in modern history.

First the Company and later the British Crown, through its representative in India, the Viceroy, attempted to remake India in their own image. A society that had lived in a certain manner for centuries was remodelled from ground up. Memoirs, chronicles, letters, and personal accounts of the time describe cataclysmic events. "My dear sir," wrote Mirza Ghalib to Nawab Anwar al-Dawla, "what shall I say about the destruction of houses and mosques! The builder of the city might not have exerted so much planned effort for building them as the owners of the country [meaning the English] have for their destruction. My! my! Almost all buildings from the times of Shah Jahan within the walls of the fort and most of these in the city were demolished painstakingly and where picks and shovels and other tools did not suffice, tunnels were made and explosives were used to demolish them."

Aristocratic families of old were ruined, thousands were killed, imprisoned, or sent into exile, a whole new administrative was imposed, and new institutions were implanted which changed everything in the vast subcontinent--from the judiciary to education. The ill-fated effort also led to the insertion of the Jewel that India was, into the Crown of the British monarch, thus conveniently shifting the exploitation of Indian resources and people from the control a trading company that had come begging for concessions from the then mighty Mughals to the British monarch.

Ninety years later, when the British finally left the Indian subcontinent, they had produced so many brown sahibs that there was no further need for their physical presence; now they could achieve what they wanted remotely, although now they had to share their profits with a newly emerged tyrannical power. This shift would be so drastic that all previous history will be quickly obliterated to make room for an entirely different public discourse.

People who lose their history, simultaneously lose their future. We are such a people. Any attempt to reclaim history is simultaneously an attempt to reclaim future. Yet, it is neither the details the armed resistance against the occupiers nor the heart-wrenching accounts of those who were blown to pieces which make this attempt meaningful; it is in understanding the present in the light of the past that makes this act of recall a meaningful process of reconstruction and reassertion. Those who refuse to see their present in the light of their past, have no understanding of the extent of transformation Pakistan is now undergoing. They cannot imagine the new history of our people which will be written fifty years from now. That history will transfigure not only the May 1857, but also May 2009.



The writer is a freelance columnist.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Quantum Note
by Dr Muzaffar Iqbal
Email: quantumnotes@gmail.com

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Sunday, May 31, 2009

I don't see you, but there is your nymph-smile

  
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Dil Se - Ae Ajnabi.mp3 (5365 KB)

Ae Ajnabi from Dil Se, in English:

O love! You too, call me from somewhere.
I live here, broken-hearted
You spend your life, somewhere. Incomplete.

Everyday, a satin-like wind.
The satin-like wind, tells me
That pure, innocent child.
Where is she, where is it?
Where is the light, where is the life-spirit?
Incomplete, alone - we spend our life.

I don’t see you, but there is your nymph-smile
I see no face, but I see a shadow.
Where are you, where?
Where do I find you?
Where is my world?
Incomplete, you and I - wasting our life.

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Friday, May 29, 2009

Marketing, Virtual Friendships and of course, Facebook

"...an average Facebook user with 500 friends actively follows the news on only 40 of them, communicates with 20, and keeps in close touch with about 10," according to an article at BusinessWeek. 

Going by that, and given that I have 1272 friends, it means I actively follow the news on 101 friends, communicate with 50 (and a half, heh?), and keep in close touch with 25? But I only closely follow maybe 1-3 people! But I definitely communicate with more than 50 - through status comments, quiz comments and what not - apart from wall posts. Well, I guess it's a fair generalization still.

I'm most interested to know if the researchers can really come up with algorithms to friendships, or at least virtual friendships, because I believe that is impossible. It's all just random!

Another concern for me is, how do the researchers get their guinea pigs - the people they carry out research on? Like, let's say they want to study me because I'm such a "Facebook whore", would they just get access to my information without my consent? How many people I stalked, clicking through pictures, and viewing people's wall-to-walls and what not... 

Or would they ask me first? If they do, and let's assume I say yes, does that mean I will be giving them access to my friends' information as well? Because - I think I raised this question before - who owns this data? 

Naturally, Facebook terms and conditions stipulate that the users have no rights over the information, but still, it is information about ME! And while I still own the content, the statistical information could be useful too. If anyone else has a right to view it, I should be able to view it first! I also want to learn more about me and my habits! 

Yes, after going through the Facebook principles, I think that any information that is provided to advertisers and marketers should be provided to me first.

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Tuesday, May 26, 2009

And I Thought I was Good at Brainstorming

It has always come so naturally to me. To get a few people together into one place and then have everyone throw their ideas around. I would dominate, using others' ideas and improving them (or reducing them, heh), and also jumpstarting the discussion by throwing in some stupid ideas at the beginning.

Alex Osburn, who came up with the idea of brainstorming in 1957, suggested such throwing around of ideas have only four rules:
  • Don't criticize.
  • Quantity is wanted.
  • Combine and improve suggested ideas.
  • Share ALL ideas that come to mind.
If I could, I would add these two as well:
  • Listen.
  • Be positive. (until later, much later, when you have more than enough ideas.)
But the problem I've had since a long time now is that people here don't do such activities in groups. Those that do it in groups never listen to each other, and never bend to each other's wills. Then through failed layers of democracy and voting with disagreement, an idea is accepted by a group or a committee, often half-heartedly. Naturally, that affects the ultimate goals of the entire exercise, or whatever the idea is being used for.

The issue they need to understand is that creativity comes ad libitum: by being spontaneous and impromptu. A person can't sit alone at his desk and generate slogans, tag-lines, new names for products or services, or company names, or design. In this regard, I'm curious myself about how creative people function - especially in a corporate environment. Now, you can't book the meeting room each time you have to send one idea high up and can't decide between 20 ideas (only to receive a disdainful no every time).

But I'm confused, and as usual, this post doesn't serve to explain but to confuse further. I think great ideas come to you when your concentration is at its peak. Your concentration is at its peak when your presence of mind is at its height. And when it is at its height, you are most likely to be in the shower or taking a dump. You've gotta be peaceful!

On a similar note, here's a list of AMAZING tools to feed our creativity.

Friday, May 22, 2009

I never wanna be Alone

Alone by Creed And Tool  
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creed and tool - miscellaneous - alone.mp3 (3642 KB)

It's been a long day at the bottom of the hill,
she died of a broken heart.
She told me I was living in the past,
drinking from a broken glass.

Chorus

I'm alone [I never wanna be alone],
now I [now I] try to face the cold.
I'm alone [I never wanna be alone],
now I [now I] try to travel home.


I walked down to the other end of the day,
just to catch those last few waves.
I held out my hand and slowly waved goodbye,
I turned now my eyes up to the sky.

Chorus

I'm alone [I never wanna be alone],
now I [now I] try to face the cold.
I'm alone [I never wanna be alone],
now I [now I] try to travel home.

She'll come back to me. [She'll come back to me.]
She'll come back to me. [She'll come back to me.]
All alone in this mystery.
She'll come back to me.

I held out my hands into the light and I watched it die,
I know that I was part to play.
My god, my time to die.
Never want to spend my life alone.

Chorus

I'm alone [I never wanna be alone],
now I [now I] try to face the cold.
I'm alone [I never wanna be alone],
now I [now I] try to travel home. 

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Django Reinhardt - Duelling Banjos (deliverance)

Duelling Banjos (Deliverance) by Django Reinhardt  
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django reinhardt - reinhardt - 01.mp3 (4800 KB)

Don't you just love musical instruments talking to each other?

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Amazing Pakistan: A picture hidden from the World (Part-1)

Amazing Pakistan: A picture hidden from the World (Part-1)
Pakistan, meaning the “The land of pure” where each day the sun rises with a new hope, with an enduring majesty as the rays of light flushing down towards the snowcapped peaks of Himalaya’s and Nanga Parbat. A land where love finds a meaning in the heart warming hospitability of people, a land where history and ancient civilization mystifies one’s heart, a land where spiritualism unveils its mystery at the shrines of Sufi Saints. This is the land I belong to, this is the land I’ll die for and this is the land that defines my identity.

The Invincible 167 Million: 6th largest Nation of the World


The invincible 167 million Pakistani’s progressing forward with high hopes and a mission holding an unquenchable thirst to be the world leader’s soon. Despit the chaos, despite the ill spilled by the westeren media to demoralize the nation and to uproot the patriotism from the hearts and minds of people of this country, despite the foreign funded terrorists bombing hundreds of Pakistani’s each day painting the roads red with the blood of young children, women and men. Every drop of it shouts back loud ” You can never take us down, We’ll fight back till our last breath“. Reminding you this is the nation which has a 7th largest pool of scientists and Engineers in the World[1]. and the country that is ranked 9th in the world where English language is spoken and used as an official language [1].



Pakistan: World's 9th Largest English Speaking Country
Photo by Sultan Dogar: Abbotabad Medical College

 


Pakistan:
World 7th largest Pool of Scientists and Engineer
 Photo : Moin Ali Nawazish making a World Record by passing 23 A level Exams

 

The Might: 7th Nuclear Power of the World

On May 28, 1998, Pakistan became the 7th nuclear power of the world giving a loud and clear message to the enemies that this nation is fully equipped and ready to defend it’s sovereignty. Pakistan has world 7th largest standing arm forces [1] well trained possessing state of the art technology. Pakistan Air Force (PAF) is the symbol of pride for the nation and a galaxy of highly trained professionals emerged in latest technological developments. The highly skilled PAF personals are renowned for their excellence and handling of aircraft and surely are the worst fear for the enemies.

Pakistan: 7th largest Standing Arm Force in the World

Pakistan: Air force: Air Commodore MM ALAM has a world record
of shooting down
5 Indian planes in less than a Minute


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Pakistan: The Roof Top of the World
Pakistan the land of grand mountain ranges, a land that holds 4 out of 14 most highest peaks in the world.
K2 the second highest mountain in the world with all it’s grandeur symbolizing the pride and strength of the people of Pakistan.

Pakistan: K2 the 2nd highest mountain peak in the World


Hunza
is said to be a place ” Where Time Stops and Fairy Treads“, Kalash and Chitral are the natural wonders of the world where poetic verses find their inspirations from the beauty and elegance of high peak mountains, lush green fields and the fragrant breeze singing across the poplar trees. Some of the places which are not highlighted by the media but still due to their magnitude find their places on the World record books are ; Aisa’s Highest Railway Station Kan Mehtarzai [2] that is located 2240 meters above sea level near Quetta.

Pakistan: Asia's Highest Railway Station "Kan Mehtarzai "

Pakistan: Lalazar often termed as most beautiful place on earth

 Pakistan: Nanga Parbat 9th Highest Peak in the World


What it would feel like to play a sport that is wild, challenging and manly at the top of the world surrounded by the drumbeats and the music of the reed instrument. Yes Shandur Polo tournament is played every year at World’s highest Polo ground at Shandur, Northern Pakistan.

Pakistan: Shundur Polo festival at the World's highest Polo ground



Karakoram Highway: Eighth Wonder of the World

Karakoram Highway runs through the northern areas connecting Pakistan with China’s Xingjiang province is often described as ”Eighth Wonder of the World” due to the marvel of civil engineering as it has taken 15 years to complete by the Pakistan Army Engineers in collaboration with China. It’s been labeled as ” World’s highest paved international Road” under world’s toughest terrain.

Pakistan: Karakoram Highway World's highest paved international Road



World’s Largest Deep Sea Port: Gwader

“Gwa” means Air and “Dar” means door, and the word Gawadar means ” The door of the wind” is the world’s largest deep sea port lies in southwestern Pakistani province of Balochistan. The design and construction of the port is carried out in collaboration with China and it has just started it’s operation.It’s going to emerge as a world’s biggest skyline due to it’s capacity and infrastructure of handling bulk carriers. It has been declared as a Duty Free Port and Free Economic Zone by the Pakistani government that has increased the commercial worth manifolds. It has an immense geostrategic importance as it is the entrance to the Persian Gulf and is considered to be a substitute of Dubai Port.

Pakistan: Gawader: World's Largest Deep Sea Port



Khewra Mines: Second Largest Salt Mine in the World

Khewra Salt Mine located in Khewra, Jehlum Punjab, Pakistan is the second largest Salt Mine in the world and is considered to be the oldest in the subcontinent. It was said that discovery of Salt mines were not done by Alexander or his army but by their horses as they started licking the stones when they stopped here for rest. Thousand of visitors each year visit Khewra Salt mines and get fascinated by the nature’s miracle in the heart of mountains.

Pakistan: Khewra Salt Mine: Second Largest Salt Mine in the World



Haleji Lake: Asia’s largest Bird Sanctuary

Pakistan is a land of serene beauty , a country with diverse wild life , fresh water lakes, a 1046 km coast lines. Some of the most unique species of birds are found in northern Pakistan with awe-inspiring natural wonders like Lake Saiful Maluk, Lake Shandur, Dudipatsar Lake, kutwal lake, Zalzal lake and many more. But Haleji has it’s own significance as it is Asia’s largest waterfowl reserve. During winter thousands of birds of different species fly down to Haleji from Siberian colder areas

Pakistan: The heavenly Shandur Lake

 

Thar Desert: One amongst the largest deserts in the World


Thar is a arid region in the north western part of Indian subcontinent, it lies mostly in Indian state of Rajasthan but it covers eastern Sindh province and the southeastern portion of Pakistan’s Punjab province. It is amongst one of the largest deserts in the world rich multifaceted culture, heritage, traditions, folk tales, dances and music. The poetic expression of Kafi written by Sufi poets of Sindh resonates in the cold nights as the Thari musicians start singing them on sorrowing rhythmic beats. In the night the granules of the sand lit up like stars as the moonlight walks on them.


Pakistan: Tharparker

 

The land of oldest Civilization: Indus Valley and Moenjodaro

Moenjodaro is the province of Sindh, Pakistan and archeology trace back it exitence 5000 years ago. It provides an earliest instance of exemplary form of town planning and community organization and found to be as one of the oldest cities known today. It is said to be the pilgrimage of ancient ruins. The splendor of Indus Valley civilization spread over a thousand mile from the high peak snowy mountains of Kashmir to the glittering sand dunes facing the Arabian Sea. One of the oldest known civilization that flourished in the Indus river Basin embraced within its fold almost the entire country now known as Pakistan.


Pakistan: Moenjodaro, One of the oldest Civilization Known today




NB: Received as a forward by email

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Thursday, May 21, 2009

Yes, You Are Right

One of the most beautiful phrases to hear for any human being out there is: "Yes, you are right."

Everyone wants to be right about things they do or say - or they like to be told that the things they do or say are right. In the past week, I've been told I am right more times than my close group of friends and family have told me in a year. It's just fascinating.

I guess that is the main difference between a social and professional environment. Often, in social environments people are more prone to think that their righteousness supersedes everyone else's, and no one likes to be corrected. But in professional environments, people tend to be more ethical and more open to suggestions, feedback and critiques.

Of course, there are exceptions in every generalization (and this is a generalization).

Whatever the case, I haven't donned some kind of coporate suit to fit into this professional environment (or taken off my social suit). I am still very much myself. I must've been right all along. About most things at least, if not all.

Ah self-confidence, thou art a heartless bitch!

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Friday, May 15, 2009

2009 World University Rankings: NUS, NTU up, up!

Ruminations: 2007 World University Rankings: NUS, NTU down

Talk about leaps and bounds - what massive turbulence! When I blogged about NUS rankings before, I mentioned how the university first made its appearance in the rankings by appearing #18 in 2004, and then on it was #22 in 2005, #19 in 2006, #33 in 2007 and #30 in 2008.

#10 is a pretty big deal I guess, but the QS.com Asian University Rankings are only indicative of the upcoming World Rankings - if that is possible - because I feel that Asian universities can expect a hard blow in World rankings (which are followed much more closely in the Asian world). From what I gather, this year's rankings were developed after a marriage between the US News & World Report (which uses 18 indicators) and the Joong Ang Ilbo ranking in Korea (which uses over 30 indicators). So QS.com associated itself with Chosun Ilbo, a Korean English paper that dates back to April 1933 when Korea was a Japanese colony. Funny fact - the paper's publisher was this guy named Bang Ung-mo. (Sorry Koreans. 'Bang' is funny in English and 'Ung-mo' is funny in Singapore. Combined together, it's hilarious!)

Anyway, I think the US News and World Report will still develop it's World rankings based on the 18 indicators and that just means that NUS (and other unmentionables *cough*NTU*cough*) will do badly.

To see where NUS did 'great' (but still not great enough to be Asia's best), these are the indicators and the respective weightage (note how inbound and outbound exchange do not use the word 'international'):

Asian Academic Peer Review = 30%
(academics with knowledge of research in Asian institutions)

Papers per Faculty = 15%

Citations per Paper = 15%

Student Faculty Ratio = 20%

Asian Employer Review = 10%
(employers with experience of recruiting from Asian institutions)

International Faculty = 2.5%

International Students = 2.5%

Inbound Exchange Students = 2.5%

Outbound Exchange Students = 2.5%

Thursday, May 14, 2009

It's a cool Summer

Yesterday was a great day. I finalized moving out of Temasek Hall and brought all my luggage to PGPR, into my room at block 27, where I'll be staying till at least July 2010 if I need to (x1). I got a call from the company where I wanted to intern asking me to start coming to work the next day onwards (x2). And I got some financial aid guarantor thing worked out finally (x3). So three times great. And then I hung out with my quasi family in Singapore, having paratha fry anda and then Pakistani Chinese later (that I also got to take-away!).

Although the heart aches, I won't have much time to worry about it this Summer. Firstly, I have my internship, and to give a feel of what it's like, my first day has been rather busy - upon my arrival they asked me to prepare marketing collaterals and print out 45 copies before the lunch break and I proofread the CEO's letter that was supposed to go with it; then after lunch I head down to the other company office at Science Park to meet up with the IT company to work on our company's website and see if the interface is satisfactory; and the rest of the day I do research on incorporating Slingbox or a similar new media technology for a new business model for the company.

Tomorrow I will be ushering at the Imagine for Red fashion show at Vivo City after work, and the next day I am meeting Radu to work on the project he's been working on with other AIESECers - I might be able to assist them in their blogging efforts. The same day I have promised some SPY people my presence at a home karaoke get-together. Sunday the same group of people are going to the beach, and that is where we will finalize our plans for the play we're gonna do later.

The play is a major undertaking as it will involve auditions, rehearsals, bookings, sourcing for props and costumes, and most of all, development of the script. Let's see how it works out, but so far, the four of us working on this seem to be highly motivated.

And last but definitely not least, my mother and two younger siblings are coming to Singapore to visit me and my sister in June! Finally this is a Summer in Singapore that I'm looking forward to!

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Thursday, May 7, 2009

One Spoon

Today when I went to get my Annalakshmi-delivered hall food, I only got one spoon.

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Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Most Heavily Bombed Country in History


Data released by Clinton in 2000 shows that America bombed Cambodia with 2,756,941 tons of bombs. To put this into perspective, the Allies dropped just over 2 million tons of bombs during allof World War II, INCLUDING the bombs that struck Hiroshima and Nagasaki: 15,000 and 20,000 tons, respectively. 


Cambodia may well be the most heavily bombed country in history.

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Tuesday, May 5, 2009

A Sikh Writing All This, by Khushwant Singh


Prejudice is like poison. Unless purged out of one’s mind in early stages, it can spread like cancer and make one incapable of differentiating between right and wrong. Of the many kinds of prejudice, the worst is to believe that one’s own religion is superior to all others, which may be tolerated but never taken seriously or accepted as equally valid as one’s own.

The most misunderstood of the major religions today is Islam, which, after Christianity, is the second most widely practiced religion in the world. It also gains more converts than any of the other religions. Prejudice against Islam was spread in Christendom from the time Muslims gained dominance in the Middle East, North Africa and Spain. Christian crusaders failed in their missions to crush Islam in its homeland but continued to vilify its founder, Mohammed.

The emergence of militant Islamic groups like Al Qaida and Taliban gave them reasons to do so. The attack on the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in Washington on September 11, 2001 provided fresh ammunition to vilifiers of Islam.

Since then Islamophobia has been deliberately spread throughout the non-Muslim world. The two principle contentions of the anti-Islamists are that Islam was spread by the sword and that its founder-Prophet was not the paragon of virtue that Muslims make him out to be.

It can be proved by historical evidence that Islam was not forced upon the people; it was readily accepted by millions because it offered them new values, principally equality of mankind and rights to women that were unheard of in those times. In countries like Indonesia and Malayasia, Islam was not forced on the population by Muslim invaders but by Muslim missionaries.

Muslims are extremely sensitive to criticism of their Prophet. A popular adage in Persian is: “ba khuda diwaana basho, ba Mohammed hoshiar! — “say what you like about God, but beware of what you say about Mohammed.”

They regard him as the most perfect man who ever trod upon the earth, a successor of Adam, Moses, Noah, Abraham and Christ. He was the last of the Prophets. If you honestly want to know how Muslims see him, you ought to take a good look at his life and teachings, which he claimed had been revealed to him by God. It would be as wrong to judge him by the doings of Al Qaida and Taliban or by the fatwas periodically pronounced by Ayatollahs and half-baked mullahs.

You do not judge Hinduism of the Vedas and Upanishads by the doings of Hindus who, in the name of Hindutva, destroy mosques, murder missionaries and nuns, vandalize libraries and works of art. You do not judge the teachings of the Sikh gurus by the utterances of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and by the murder of innocents by his hooligans. Likewise, judge Mohammed by what he taught and stood for and not by what his so-called followers do in his name.

Mohammed was born in Mecca in 570 A D. He lost both his parents while still a child and was brought up by his grandfather and uncle.. He managed the business of a widow, whom he later married. She bore him six children. He took no other wife until she died.

He was 40 years old when he started having revelations while in trance. They proclaimed Mohammed as the new messiah. Such revelation kept coming at random, sometimes dealing with problems at hand, at other times with matters spiritual. They were memorized or written down by his admirers and became the Quran, which means recitation.

It should be kept in mind that Mohammed was not preaching ideas of his own but only reiterating most of what was already in the Judaic creed. Allah was the Arabic name for God before him. Similarly, Islam was ‘surrender’ and salman was ‘peace’.

Mecca was the main market city of the Bedouin tribes. They gathered at the Kaaba, the huge courtyard with the black meteorite embedded in it during two pilgrimages — the bigger Haj and the lesser Umrah.

Mohammed accepted Judaic traditions regarding food which is halaal (lawful) or haraam (forbidden, such as pig meat), names of the five daily prayers and circumcision of male children.

Mohammed only asserted the oneness of God that did not accept of any equal such as the stone goddesses worshiped by different tribes. Mohammed never forced people to accept his faith and indeed quoted Allah’s message of freedom of faith. “There must be no coercion in matters of faith — la ikra f’il deen.” Further: “And if God had so willed, He would have made you all one single command; but He willed otherwise in order to test you by means of what He has vouchsafed unto you. Vie, then with one another in doing good works!”

As might have been expected, Mohammed’s mission roused fierce hostility. Many attempts were made to assassinate him but he had miraculously escaped. Ultimately, in 622 AD he was advised to flee from Mecca to Medina. This is known as the Hijra (emigration) and recognized as the beginning of the Muslim calendar.

Meccans made a few attempts to capture Medina but were ousted. Muslim armies led by Mohammed triumphed and returned to Mecca as conquerors. By the time Mohammed died in Medina in 632 AD, the Arabian peninsula was united as a confederacy of different tribes under the banner of Islam.

Most of the ill-founded criticism against Mohammed is directed towards the number of women he married after the death of his first wife, Khadijah. This has to be seen in the perspective of Arabian society of the time. Tribes lived by warring against each other and looting caravans. There were heavy casualties of men, creating serious gender imbalance. Widows and orphans of men killed had to be provided with homes and sustenance. Otherwise they took to prostitution or begging. So they were given protection by being taken in marriages. Also, matrimonial alliances were a good way of creating bonds between different tribes.

Mohammed did nothing not acceptable to his people. He went further: he was the first teacher to proclaim that the best union was a monogamous marriage and fixed the maximum limit to four, provided a man could keep all of his wives equally happy — which was most unlikely.

The pertinent verse in the Quran reads: “And if you have reason to fear you might not act equitably towards orphans, then marry from among other women who are lawful to you, even two or three or four; but if you have reason to fear you might not be able to treat them with equal fairness, then only one.” Bear in mind that at that time polygamy was the norm in patriarchal societies all over the world.

To make a beginning in clearing your mind of anti-Muslim prejudices, I suggest you read Karen Armstrong’s “Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time”. Armstrong is the leading writer on comparative religions today. She is not Muslim.

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Sunday, May 3, 2009

Counting down from 10


Ten things you wish you could say to 10 different people right now:

1. You are an asswipe for not embracing new media technologies and not staying in touch via Facebook, Windows Live and hardly email.
2. I wish those days would return when we were together having a great time all the time.
3. I hope you know that if it wasn't for your love for me, I would've given up long ago. I owe you everything.
4. You are so thoughtless and selfish at times, I wonder if it is because you were raised in a bubble.
5. We have something interesting going on here, so why not try to make it work?
6. You grow more and more stupid everyday. Quit the rebellious phase already. You're not 13 any more.
7. I hope one day you can join the family as I have accepted you the way you are, despite your flaws.
8. In another place, another world, another time, we would have been just perfect for each other. I'm sorry things can't work out in this world.
9. You have been absent my whole life. And you have hardly done much for me. But whenever you take a step towards me, I feel the happiness in my heart.
10. I hope you can stop being obnoxious because you don't need to be, in order to be my closest friend.

Nine things about yourself:
1. I'm writing this on my first first day of mugging for final exams.
2. I started hating fish after coming to Singapore but I just had the best stir-fried Rau Machli (Salmon) for breakfast and I'm loving it! (Oops, lawsuit from McD's)
3. I have a knack for "connecting people" together. I've been told I glue people together.
4. I'm an idealist with some realism and pragmatism thrown in.
5. I love randomness. Plans fail.
6. I want I want I want a french-press to make coffee!
7. I'm weird.
8. I can't wait to start my own family.
9. I am seeking the truth about religion and world politics.

Eight ways to win your heart:
1. Take interest in everything I do. (But don't become a stalker.)
2. Listen to what I say. (Don't ignore things.)
3. Challenge me and debate me without letting it become a fight.
4. Don't make judgements about me if you can't take judgements about yourself.
5. Don't be self-righteous. I would hate to slap you in the face with your hypocrisy.
6. Stop the pessimism - I don't have the energy to listen to your negativity.
7. Make me laugh. 
8. Laugh. Smile.

Seven things that cross your mind a lot:
1. Do I have time for a smoke?
2. Can I delay this?
3. Why is the world like this?
4. Is my sister doing x/y/z?
5. Maybe there is something new on my Facebook/Gmail?
6. How can I enjoy this time more?
7. Why can't people just communicate better and solve EVERY problem?

Six things you want to happen to you before you die:
1. Fall in love with the person I marry.
2. Finish my book.
3. Become famous.
4. Start my NGO.
5. See my kids graduate.
6. Understand a faith.

Five turn offs:
1. Pessimism.
2. Being chicken.
3. Interruption.
4. Hair.
5. Selfishness.

Four turn ons:
1. Smell like flowers.
2. Know your clothes (and flaunt them regularly).
3. Know when to be in charge and when not to be.
4. Respects my faith, my dreams, my family and believes in me.

Three smilies that describe your life:
1 =/
2. =\
3. :S

Two things you wish you never did:
1. June 2008
2. September 2008

One confession:
1. I'm looking forward to having some alone time for the next 3 months or so, but I'm also terrified of it.

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