Monday, October 31, 2005

Disclaimer

This is to inform all of you that from now on, this blog might contain explicit contents. They may range from sub-standard, sub-human things to expletives. The author could not be held responsible for any trauma arising out of such views. What you read is your choice, and you can leave the blog any time. Finally I decided to show the real me, as Samar says that all blogs portray the nice sides of the bloggers. So here I am, all in my glory, in my real self, nice as well as evil. I am finally shedding the be-good posture that I have been wearing all my life. Bear with me if you can, or bid me adios. P.S. did I tell you I was a Gemini?

Saturday, October 29, 2005

Weird

If listening to Mar Dala from Devdas is weird, then I am exactly that!!!!
 
Matlab, I have started liking that song. It's got that odd feeling, that touches something deep inside.. strikes some long forgotten chords.. makes stuff well up again that were long deemed drowned!
 
Sometimes such songs help forget the miseries of the present. Living in the past is not necessarily a good thing, but then, it isnt worse either. That way atleast you get to ponder over your mistakes, if any, and shayad, somehow, you'll resolve never to repeat them!
 
Its great, and for a good measure, throw in a couple of MHB songs, and you can have a serene (and nostalgic) evening!

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

To those this might concern

  • There is no such thing as full scape papers. There are only fool's cap papers, or you can call them foolscap. That's it. Please!
  • Refrain from wearing too-revealing clothes, atleast while its Ramadan. You know, us guys' rozas go down the drain!!
  • People will look whenever the show is on. So dont make a show!
  • The prefix 'www' in a domain name is only needed for the top level domains. No need of using them in subdomains. Save your time by striking out the 'www' from 'www.someone.blogspot.com'. It would work as fine.
  • My nick is supposed to be u'X'uf, not 'U'xuf. So please?

More of them coming, had loads to share but couldnt place the things now that I am here :P

Aur haan! My friends, the DC (disciplinary committee) meeting was initiated for the tour. Ya know, the joke is on... "TC ki DC!"...

Dont know yet what those people have decided, but I am positive it won't be too harsh. Only if we d have known that they will treat us like this when we get back, we'd have given the students a raw deal!

But, life goes on...

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

The firsts!

Subject:   Disciplinary Meeting
From:   "Abdul Saeed" 
Date:   Mon, October 24, 2005 6:25 am
To:    "S2057"
 "S2035"
 "S1836"
 "S1863"
 "S1885"
 "S2114"
 "S2071"
 "S1871" 
Cc:   "Hasina Khatoon"
 

Dear Students,

You are advised to appear before the Disciplinary Committee on Tuesday
i.e. October 25, 2005 at 11:00 AM.

Abdul Saeed

From Director's Office

Monday, October 24, 2005

I'm bored!

Got nothing to do these days, everything is, umm, boring. I'm bored of university, of office, of home. What I need to get me back into the mainstream "fun" is a substantial project. Yeah, I know I sound odd, but I need to work! Naah, study is not work for me. Infact I am bored of studies as well... Got any ideas? And did I tell you, I've got this nasty cut on the fore-side of my palm, that occurred when I was disembarking from my point? Well, its not that nasty!! But its cool! Talk about guys nursing nasty cuts just to show people how brawly they are ;)

Friday, October 21, 2005

Whoa week!

Ah, and another week comes to an end. Seems like Murphy postulated his law with the technology people in mind, especially the computers related ones. For those who are still ignorant about this wonderful law, it goes something like this: If something can go wrong, it will. There is it. The philosophy of life, captured beautifully in a few words. And yet, it proves true more often than not for all us Computer Science undergrads! What would you say when on the night before submitting the first phase of the compiler project, the front end and the back end of the applications just wouldnt connect and fail to co-exist amiably? What should be done when on the day of the demo, I couldnt even manage to display the file in a little window? And then, treat J# as similar to C#? Or when the application goes bang right in front of the TA when he runs it for the first time? The most embarassing part is that there was a teensy thing overlooked that wouldnt let the file display in that little window, and that I came to know of after the demo. Ah, life. The TA was lenient enough for postponing the demo till the next day, as I squarely lay the blame on the computer. Ofcourse, there wasn't any problem with my application. There just couldnt be! And finally, the demo went smooth. Murphy's law can go pop in his face, for all I care!

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

How many?

How many balloons can you spot in this picture?
The correct answer will get a surprise gift.

Living in 2005

YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2005 when... 1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave. 2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years. 3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3. 4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you. 5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses. 6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries. 7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen. 8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it. 10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee. 11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. :) 12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing. 13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message. 14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list. 15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list. AND NOW U R LAUGHING at yourself.

Saturday, October 15, 2005

Fastian Relief

Assalamualaikum ladies and gentlemen, I am quite glad to inform all of you that FASTians have achieved their first objective in our struggle to provide relief to our Muslim brothers and sisters, our fellow countrymen, struck by disaster in the wake of the earthquake. Today, i.e. Thursday, 13th Oct. 2005, at 3:15 PM, FASTian relief operation members handed over a consignment of 15 gasoline generators, worth Rs 64,500, to the Base Commander at PAF Museum. They were very well recieved and the commander thanked the FASTian Community for their contribution. However, FASTians had another gift for the people. At 5:45 PM a consignment of Intravenous Anti-biotic Injections (Gen. 2 & 3), worth Rs 35,000, was handed over to the authorities at PAF Museum. This vital consignment was immediately sent for shipment amid much thanks. The students at FAST NU Karachi have displayed unflinching determination to the cause so much so that when Tahir Khan, who heads the PAF Museum Operation along with Fakhr, thanked the volunteers he specifically thanked FASTians for their contribution. I would like to add that FASTians were the first students to arrive at PAF and in the largest number and have been working tirelessly at the site everyday. Congratulations all of you. You make yourselves and each other proud. However, the fight does not stop here. We have to continue this spirit for a long time because those in need will require our assistance for a long time. Very soon a presentation will be organised and plans for continuing this operation will be laid out. I will share with you the core point: You all have been donating generously. However, I would like you all to set upon yourself an obligation that every one of you will donate Rs 10/20 everyday. There are approx 1400 students. At this rate we will be able to generate Rs 14,000 to 28,000 on a daily basis. This will allow us to send daily consignments to the victims. I don't want you guys to overburden yourselves. So answer this call as I have requested you. I would like to mention that our next target is to send a large consignment of tents. Let's work together for it. Anyone who wishes to question the transparency of the operation will find every paisa accounted for. However, even then, if you do not trust your fellow students then contribute in any other operation you like but please be a part of the struggle. Additionally, we have decided to unofficially name our relief operation "FAST Rescue" and every FASTian, student or teacher, current or ex, is a member. Let's unveil the truth in this name. Yours in Fellowship, Bilal Ahmed Khan (s2043) Team Member. This mail was received as our effort was unofficially given a name. All fastians, please be a part of it. All of the other guys, help in any way you can.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Precautions

Tremors were felt in Karachi late Tuesday night. Although the Met department says the tremors only measured 4.0 on the Richter scale, people were sure panicked. I rang up Beyzar last night only to find out he with his family was sitting outside the apartment block. Assured him that it must be safe to go inside, but advised him to wait atleast 15 minutes more. The Met department says these little shocks are of no danger and people should remain calm. Moreover, these shocks werent related to the quake of Saturday (Balochistan and Sindh lie roughly in a different fault than do Northern Pakistan and Punjab). Whatever the Richter scale says, we must equip ourselves against any kind of shocks. Here is a list of precautions to be taken in the event of an earthquake (or tremors): Indoors:

  • If you're indoors during an earthquake, the best thing to do is to crouch and cover yourself. Better still if you can get yourself under a table or desk, and stay there until the shocks have subsided. You can also stand in the door frame, or take shelter against an inner wall of the house. They are less likely to collapse than an outer wall of the house.
  • Dont try to run out of the building. You can be hit by falling debris from the building.
  • Stay in your safe place until after the shocks. Keep on the lookout for fires. Fires are the most devastating aftermath of earthquakes.
  • After the shocks, if you do have to evacuate the building, use the stairs rather than the elevator, and get as far from the building as possible.

Outdoors:

  • Stay clear of buildings, electric poles, trees etc when you're outdoors.
  • When the shocks occur, crouch and cover. Stay in one place.
  • Seek out a clear place.
  • While in a car, stop the car immediately, and wait patiently with your seat belt strapped.

With these little precautions a lot of damage can be avoided.

God help us all.

The students at FAST-NU Karachi campus have managed to raise up a sum of Rs. 38,000 in the last two days. They have also set up a relief camp in the university, where the goods collected each day go to the PAF Museum. The faculty has announced that it will donate its salary of one day towards the relief effort.

Alongwith the goods, I went to the PAF Museum yesterday. On Monday, we took around 250 people with us (yes, all FASTians!), and yesterday, there were around 170. Its always heartening to see when people forget all their differences to work towards a cause. At the camp, there was no rich or poor, guy or girl, hindu or muslim. We were all Pakistanis, and working towards the relief of our fellow Pakistanis.

Stayed there from 1.30 to 5.00, and till then I was cramped that I couldnt even walk. But eventually, I did, warna I wouldnt be home in time for iftaar!

Decided to go back at around 10 pm. Turned out it was a tall order, it felt that the whole Karachi has arrived there to help! It took us 45 minutes to inch towards the camp setup at the Sharae Faisal entrance, a distance that takes normally 5 minutes to cover.

I am impressed by Pakistanis, especially Karachiites. I used to think we didnt have that much fervour left in us. But this tragedy, has made me thinking otherwise.

Yes, I am proud to be a Pakistani!

Tremors in Karachi!

I've just heard that tremors were felt in the areas of DHA and Clifton tonight.
 
God keep us all in His hifz-o-aman.
 
Please pray, and beg mercy for your sins, deliberate or undeliberate.

Monday, October 10, 2005

Help!

Mobilink and Ufone customers can now help their calamity-stricken brethren by texting DONATE to the number 436. A paltry sum of Rs. 3 will be deducted from the balance and will be donated to the earthquake relief fund. For that matter people residing in Karachi can take up their donations to the PAF Museum's parking lot. It would be a lot better if you can take supplies rather than money. Different companies have put up stalls their and are selling their products at a discounted rate. If you do take money, prefer to purchase something from there and give it to the relief people. PIA is also arranging relief efforts. You can deposit your goods at the nearest PIA center. Camps are also set up at all the Edhi centers. You can also help being online, just visit HelpPakistan and click on any of the advertisements. All the revenue generated from the ads there would be donated to the relief fund. But be cautious, and don't go overboard in helping your friends. A few clicks too many from the same IP would alert the Google people and they would shut the whole thing up, rendering the effort useless. Donate, help them in any way you can. Maybe this would be the only worthwhile thing we would do in our entire lives!

Saturday, October 08, 2005

The Quake

Image copyright BBC International
The epicenter of the earthquake was approximately 96 kilometers from Islamabad. The quake hit the cities at 8:50 am. More than 500 deaths are reported in Pakistan alone (including Azad Kashmir).
The tsunamis, the floods, the hurricanes, and now the earthquake. God is testing the world in major ways this decade. Pray that we keep steady in our faith, and emerge from these tests with our heads held high.
My prayers for the affected people from the earthquake. May God give them strength to bear with the calamity.
Update: If anyone is having problems siging on to Yahoo!, try this link, its guaranteed 96% of the time to work...
Especially my cablenet people! (dont worry it isnt a trap)

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

2006

Phir....?

Shaamein ab, dhalti nahin Aanchal jo tera simat jaye Aap yahan, hamesha rahein Doori rahay na woh faaslay Jaagay hain, soye nahin Aisi hai meri yeh bechaini Din bhi wohi, raatein wohi Saanson mein saansein hain nahin Ab agar tum miley to Itna yakeen hai Hans dein gay hum to Rona nahin hai..... Yakeen Atif Aslam - Jal Pari

Saturday, October 01, 2005

GotTaggedAgain

This time, JonyDada did it. And since, I still have nothing better to do, I am continuing the Tag game. The rules: 1. Go to your archive. 2. Find your 23rd post. 3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest) 4. Post the text of the sentence with these instructions. 5. Tag 5 people. Indeed, a tall order, considering the number of posts I've written, and the utter lack of basic mathematical skills. Still, here is the fifth sentence from my 23rd post... And then there it was reminding me of how can I leave it out! Pretty mysterious, hey, you can read the post here! And the five people I am cursing with this tag:

  1. 9j
  2. s!d
  3. Extiinct
  4. Manav
  5. Khargoshh