And So It Begins

Few would deny that these are historic times. And we happen to be in the middle of it. Witnessing it live. Years from now, our grand children, will ask us about these times. And one of their questions can be what did we do? On which side were we standing?

Witnessing events which might be historic, can be a bit tricky. As things unfold before you, you don't realize that the event can be epic. History unfolds as a chain of small, sometimes seemingly insignificant events. But as a snowball rolling down from the top of a hill, the event starts becoming bigger and bigger.

From Haq to Baatil

Ulema Meeting With Musharraf after 9/11

Below is an excellent article by Ansar Abbasi, originally written by Mufti Rafi Usmani, on what happened behind the scenes during Musharraf's meeting with Ulema-e-Karaam after the attack of 9/11 and before the decision to attack on Afghanistan.

Jang Group Online:

Lahore 30/10/2011 Revolution Pakistan-Imran Khan-PTI---Hypocrisy Unleashed - YouTube

Lahore 30/10/2011 Revolution Pakistan-Imran Khan-PTI---Hypocrisy Unleashed - YouTube:

'via Blog this'

Difference In Attitudes

Japanese Attitude for work: 

       if one can do it, I can do it

  If none can do it, I must try to do it!

Arab Version:

    wallahi If one can do it, let him do it

if none can do it, ya-akhi why should i do it!

Shoaib Akhtar - Sachin is your God not my God

Well one thing is for sure, Shoaib Akhtar is the boldest cricket ever. He doesn't think much about saying anything. Below are his answers to all the controversies his book created. And they are pretty bold :)

While answering to Indian Media about the controversies created by his book, Shoaib tells them that Sachin is your God and not my God. 'And if your God can get a ball hit on his head, then its your problem not his'. 

Meanwhile Afridi, another bold Pakistani cricketer, has vouched for Shoaib, saying that Sachin was really scared of Shoaib, and Afridi could see Sachin's legs shaking, while Afridi was standing on the square leg. 

SCSM - IT Operations Perspective

Microsoft's System Center Service Manager is here. Fancy names aside, it is a ticketing system which keeps a track of all the work done in IT operations. We have just launched SCSM in our production environment and right now is a good time to tell you guys as to how I, being part of IT Operations, see SCSM. 

 

Why I have not bought an Apple Till Now?

I remember there was a time, when I was a big fan of Apple, even though for most of my life, I couldn't afford any of their products. Their powerful Macintosh desktops, their flat screens, their lamp shaped PCs, their introduction of mouse etc all amazed me. Obviously everything was out of my buying power. 

Squash - The Beginning

No I am not talking about a lemonade. I am talking about Squash the game. It is an excellent game, giving you fitness, stamina, quick thinking, judgement and best of all an exhilarating feeling. If you are a beginner or someone thinking about starting this game, read on, for some tips on how make the best out of squash. 

Well Done Team Pakistan!

Well Pakistan cricket team has finished its tour of Zimbabwe in which they won every match, and also discovered a good (but old) bowler Mr. Cheema. This is good since seeing the upcoming load on Pakistan, it would be handy to have bench strength. Hafeez also found his form and the Pakistani fan is now starting to live with the Akmals. No huge performance from both the brothers, but they will (just like Imran Farhat), no doubt, retain their places in the playing 11 in place of other more deserving candidates like Asad Shafiq, Khalid Latif and Khurram Manzoor.

But I am not sure whether to be more happy for them for winning every match on the tour or I should be more happy for the fact that there were no controversies. I think it definitely is the latter. 

Any hoo, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Shoaib Akhtar and Mr. Waseem Akram, all did their part in ensuring that Pakistani cricket keeps on presenting all the wrong news headlines. Mr. Shoaib releases his autobiography, Mr. Chairman calls it 'bullshit' and Mr. Akram says that Shoaib was a problem before and is a problem now!

I am not sure that whether Mr. Chairman should have used such words in public, but anyhow, unless he is not blaming the international cricket boards for fixing matches, all is well in Pakistan. 

What is your response to this series, do let me know. I continue on my fickle pledge not to follow Pakistani cricket anymore, BUT, did watch some highlights here and there and did like Hafeez and Shafiq's boundaries and Cheema's yorker! Hope to see better signs in the SriLanka series...

Vishwa Bandhu Gupta Explains Cloud computing

An absolutely funny video. No words for it. 

The McGurk effect

Sadaqatul-Fitr Explained

By Mufti Taqi Usmani

Sadaqat-ul-fitr is an obligation for every Muslim, male or female, who owns 613.35 grams of silver or its equivalent, either in the form of money, ornaments, stock-in-trade, or in the form of some goods or commodities beyond one's normal needs. Every person who owns such an amount has to pay Sadaqat-ul-fitr, not only on behalf of himself but also on behalf of his minor children. The prescribed amount of Sadaqat-ul-fitr is 1.75 Kilograms of wheat or its value in money. This amount is prescribed for paying Sadaqat-ul-fitr for one person only. If a person has some minor children, the same amount has to be paid on behalf of each one of them separately. The following points must be remembered concerning the payment of Sadaqat-ul-fitr.

Thought Provoking Piece by Allama Iqbal

When I Go To The West I See Islam Without Muslims.

But

When I Come Back To The East I See Muslims Without Islam

Fruit Chat Take 2

Well Yesterday I tried to make Fruit Chaat. And simply put, I failed miserably. Its not my fault that my wife doesn't label her Masaala bottles. And spare me from not 'smelling' the difference between cummin powder and Chaat Masaala. Its Ramadhan I couldn't even taste to tell. Anyways, now I know the difference. And going to make the world's most popular (at least for me) fruit chaat. Thanks to the below recipe, I am going to give 'making a fruit chat', another go.