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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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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On an Article Posted On Today

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

You can eat ... in your own car | Letter from Murali S | 05:55 AM Jul 17, 2009

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!).

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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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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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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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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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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