Light Within

Making Sense of Social Media

Thatta Kedona

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The cluster of mud and brick houses in the plains of Punjab, Thatta Ghulamka Dheroka (TGD) looks like a typical Pakistani village about 80 kilometres away from Lahore and 40 kilometres from Indus civilization ruins in Harappa. There is no gas or telephone in the village. No asphalt roads lead to it. Yet it is different, the beautiful dolls and other handicrafts made by the village folks are collectors' delight all over the world. Influencers from Indus civilization from nearby Harappa and modern techniques brought by the German volunteers can be seen in the village together.

The dolls made in the village are on display in international doll museum in Iceland, prestigious galleries and showrooms in Pakistan and abroad. TGD village doll project was one of the 767 worldwide projects presented in the "Themepark" at expo 2000 in Hannover (Germany) as an example of thinking of twenty first century. Earlier, the dolls from Pakistan participated in international toy fair in Nuremberg. These dolls show how culture goes beyond simple work of art and becomes collaboration among applied and natural sciences as well as other forces that affect our lives.
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Saturday, March 27, 2021, ,

Signs of the past

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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Friday, March 26, 2021, ,

Download Free eBook

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Download Dolls, Toys and More (pdf) here

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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Thursday, March 25, 2021, ,

Mountain Might

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Pakistan Urdu Science Board textbook defines earth surface “13000 feet above sea level as mountains. Areas that are 9840 feet above their surroundings are also mountainous.” Much more than travel, recreation and adventurous destinations, mountains are natural resource reservoirs that help to sustain life on the planet earth. Nature has blessed our country with rich mountain terrain.


Nowhere in the world is concentration of high mountains, peaks, glaciers, clean water lacks (full of trout and romantic legend attached to them) and passes except in Pakistan. Of the 14 over 8,000 meters high peaks on our earth planet, four occupy an amphitheatre at the head of Baltoro glacier in the Karakorum Range: K-2 (this year Pakistan is celebrating fiftieth anniversary when man first conquered the world’s second highest - 8,611 meters – peak half century ago), Gasherbrum-I (8,068 meters), Broad Peak (8,047 meters) and Gasherbrum-II (8,035 meters). There is yet another great mountain, Nanga Parbat (8,126 meters), located at the western side of the Himalayas. Moreover, there are 68 peaks over 7,000 meters and hundreds others over 6,000 meters in Pakistan.
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Wednesday, March 24, 2021, ,

Why Pakistan Army should blog?

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I remember the days when army soldiers were told not to disclose their locations where they happened to be serving. I also remember seeing those signs on bridges saying ‘photography is prohibited’. No more. Things have changed now. Advent of technologies like GPS or cellular phones has changed the way we work and also our priorities. It is in this milieu that I say blogger outreach and social media influence can be of great advantage to any organization including Pakistan Army. Why else other armies have dedicated army blog networks where soldiers, family members, friends and supporters can post video, images and written stories?

By getting into blogging and other social media channels, army can pick up useful insights to successfully and directly connect with people. Blogging can encourage authenticity and transparency to build credibility. Social influence is very much relevant to any army today, more so to Pakistan Army that derives its strength from masses. This may also help army to actively listen to those strong opinionated advocates and those “realist, liberals, progressive, revolutionaries” that are present out there in blogosphere.

It is about time that Pakistan Army should include blogging in its communication strategy and fill the huge void that exists. Army need to update policies and encourage solders to engage meaningfully. And I know soldiers are good at it (I still remember those public speaking lessons that I had during my training in Pakistan Military Academy – one of the best training institution anywhere in the world – and later those Method of Instructions tutorials I had to attend).

Army has great opportunities to offer to its people. They need to tell this to people it serves. Internal as well as external army bloggers can do this better than anyone else.

Can influential bloggers (call them Social Media Influencers) help army in present context? Shoot down if you don’t agree.

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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Monday, March 22, 2021, ,

New domains

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Penetrating new IT domains appeared in Profit, Pakistan Today.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is about to expand general Top Level Domaown names (gTLDs). The applications have already been invited from January 11, 2012 through April 11, 2012. During the first round, ICANN will accept only 500 applications, while the subsequent rounds will be limited to 400 applications. The gTLDs expansion program has the potential to add countless new names to the existing twenty one available top-level domains (.com, .net, .edu, .biz, .org) and over 100 suffices (.pk - Pakistan, .ly - Libya) by permitting brands, businesses, geographical regions and even individuals to apply for a virtually unlimited list of new gTLDs in different scripts including Arabic. It is expected that the first gTLDs will come online by 2013.

This news has initiated a debate amongst the various stakeholders since May 2008, when ICANN first came up with the idea of expanding gTLDs “to unleash the global human imagination. The decision to expand respects the rights of groups to create new Top Level Domains in any language or script. We hope this allows the domain name system to better serve all of mankind,” says Rod Beckstrom, the CEO ICANN.
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Saturday, March 20, 2021, ,

Youth on the Internet - Urdu blog

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Read the rest of the article here.

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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Friday, March 19, 2021, ,

E-commerce

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E-commerce is global in nature. Connected users from all over the world will resort to online shopping if businesses can offer safe, user-friendly online shopping experience. A recent international ecommerce survey conducted by Pitney Bowes has crossed my desktop that points out major preferences that can be mirrored anywhere in the world. As per the findings, “71 per cent international internet users look for competitive prices, 42 per cent want a broad selection of products and services online and some 35 per cent opt online-shopping for an easy checkout and other savings; deals, free shipping and taxing costs”.

In any market based economy, prices convey all of the information that consumers require to make learned decisions. On both the production and consumption sides, market prices act as coordinating signals. In order to make informed decisions about what to offer and how, businesses need to know the prices of inputs. Similarly, consumers need to know the prices of the goods and services they might buy so that they can make appropriate decisions. The internet offers a very advanced means to communicate prices that were never possible before.
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Wednesday, March 17, 2021, ,

Would It Kill Ya To Comment

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One feature that distinguishes blogs from static websites, making them more interactive, is that blogs offer readers an option to participate through comments. Allowing comments is a matter of choice for bloggers, though. Bloggers can disallow other visitors to comment on weblogs, single entries or can authorize comments for all internet users, for members only, or make their blogs as read-only. Generally speaking, blog comments are what most keep most bloggers (including me) going.

Which is why, walking around the blogspshere reveals that most blogs have their comments option turned on, which permits users to interact with the bloggers and each other at their own pace. Some go a long way to engage others and solicit comments. I have seen permanent banners on many blogs that read, "would it kill ya to comment" or don’t "de-lurk" (meaning you must comment and not just visit the blog). In fact, a few famous bloggers celebrate De-lurking Days and Weeks to urge readers to comment.
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Tuesday, March 16, 2021, ,

Rural Cultural Fusion

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While travelling off the beaten track, not only you travel in soot free and serene environment but you explore new vistas too. Interesting things come in the way, which normally remain hidden from common commuters in the area. The journey on the byways embraces you with lovely colours, atmosphere, people and bits and pieces of history. And, there is no hassle anywhere in the way.

Set up in the foreground of legendary Salt Range on the bank of River Jhelum, Mishri Mor Buss Adda (stop) is a wonderful place with its unique character. The passenger busses and wagons stop here and commuters get down to stretch their legs, have some food, and do some shopping or to take another bus to a different destination.

The Adda has developed into a shopping centre for the passengers and folks from nearby villages. Roads from Mandi Bauhud Din, Kharin, Jhelum and Cheri meet at this junction. Two disused railway track also passes through Mishri Mor: one on which mad driven rail trolley used to play between Mandi Bahaud Din and other that was built to ferry material for the construction of Rasul Barrage. A washed up trail leaves from here for Till Jungian also. Near the bus stop are Rasul Barrage Wildlife Sanctuary, a 'Siphon' where Lower Jhelum Canal passes under the Rasul Qadarabad Link Canal and shrine of Baba Noor Shah. People bring milk offerings to this shrine from far off places and the tradition is to leave the milk pot there on the shrine. The area around Wildlife Sanctuary remains alive with myriad migratory birds - chiefly coots, common teal and ducks.


Standing at Mishri Mor, let your gaze slip and you will find Salt Range hillocks smoking with mist defining the skyline. Across River Jhelum, landscape appears like a shore of another land altogether: green belt dotted with trees and interrupted by the dawn's red and blue brushstrokes.

I have known this place all my adult life and have cluster of memories attached to it. Legand gas it that Mishri Khan of nearby village Kotehra opened up a small tea shop here in early 60, hence the name. The place developed when Kharian Road improved and long route buses started plying. This is my destination stop for going home and this is where I refashion my 'urban' attitudes before walking remaining one and a half kilometre to my home village.

Every time, day and night, the shops play music. At times you even cannot hear your own voice. Each of the shops on the Adda owns a music system. Every one competes with the rest in loudness. Business sense dictates that the music be noisy enough to invite the attention of potential buyers. I do not know what it is about this place but everyone here seems to enjoy the noise. Without it, there would be no Mishri Mor," says Nawaz, a barber and proud owner of 'the Loudest Tape Recorder'. Despite being locally assembled and crude looking, his apparatus can outlast the rest. He has also placed Public Address System with its speakers facing different directions outside the shop. His shop is adorned with the pictures of almost all-famous faces of the Bollywood, lollywood and some from Hollywood.

Though the buses stop here, the music does not. The digital revolution is affecting the way people listen, buy and enjoy music everywhere, but not here. It may look a strange choice but Mishri Mor is one of the best places to study the latest music trends in our rural culture in the Central Punjab. It is no warehouse or studio of some recording company. Rather, it is an open market complex spread over 700 square yards with 60 odd shops from hotel to barbershop to music centre, and vehicle repairing facilities. A vender Khushi sells Bhujiya Channa to passengers and earns anything "between rupees 100/- to rupees 150/- daily," he told happily.

You can hear a mile away: Surayya Multanikar or Hadiqa Kiyani, Atta Ullah Essa Kkelvi or Shezad Roy, folk, classical and even English music and songs. You name it; you will hear it in a boom that you could call the Mishri Mor fusion.

A third of the makeshift shops stock audiocassettes for sale. If the Public Call Office (PCO: equipped with mobile telephone because PTC has yet not made up to that remote location) cannot give you the track from 'Oh Kehndi Ae Sayan Main Teri Aan, hay' the fruit vendor certainly will. "We are generally ahead of anyone in these parts as far as getting the latest albums are concerned," says young Mian Khan, a PCO proprietor. He has the stock of over 500 cassettes and says, "The sale of cassettes is far more than the income from telephone. Acquiring latest music albums is easy. I get them through drivers who ply on these routes and stop here every time."

Hundreds of busses plying on these routes halt at Mishri Mor and the passengers pile out for relaxation, food and drinks. Malik Niaz, owner of an eating joint famous for fresh fish kabab informed, "The drivers and conductors of the buses are served with food, tea and cigarettes free of cost. They not only stop but also prolong their halts that help us sell more." Even shops that do not sell cassettes play music according to the perceived preference of the commuters who stop there. "It is one way to make customers feel comfortable, and it is good for business," added Malik.

With so many shops selling new cassettes, demand still outstrips the supply. That is the reason why ever keen on further innovation, Mian Khan has started retailing cassettes and has switched over to selling them in his cubby-hole PCO. As the profit on a cassette is anything between rupees 10 to rupees 30, Mian Khan feels it is worth investing. However, most of the shopkeepers keep 'Number 2 quality'. "We sell to every body: passengers, village folks, tractor and auto-rickshaw drivers who have installed the music systems in their vehicles. That is what keeps us going," says Mian Khan.

That and the sense of plain good fun. Something that rubs off on anyone who stops here. "People get off here bleary-eyed and exhausted," told a passenger, "but the noise seems to wake everybody up." After stretching their legs and eating at one of the many joints that line Mishri Mor Adda, passengers return to their buses. And they resume their travel; feet tapping to a chaotic but catching beat. May be one of the passenger offers his newly purchased cassette to the buss driver to play instead of one from driver's collection?

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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Monday, March 15, 2021, ,

QR Code

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Hyperlinks are the strength of the internet, the primary building block of the web that ties reference points to useful content. Without these semantic connections, the internet can hardly serve as a global marketplace. Generally, hyperlinks live in browser windows on computers. Businesses and online marketers have always wanted to move hyperlinks offline where consumers could click them – QR (Quick Response) Code technology does just that. In today’s world of iPhones, iPads and other smart mobile gadgetry, this technology actually makes more sense than forcing the users to type in a link, no matter how short. As consumers take greater ownership of information and integrate technologies in real life, QR Codes continue to merge the real and virtual worlds.

Jump points to the internet, QR Codes can hold infinite amounts of information. Printed on any product, paper, billboard, manual or even a visiting card QR Codes allow consumers to quickly link them from the real world to rich web content via smart phones. QR Codes can be placed anywhere; giving marketers another groundbreaking outlet to their mobile customers’ base.

QR Codes (also called matrix codes, two-dimensional bar codes) have come a long way since they were first created by Japanese corporation Denso-Wave in 1994. Later, Microsoft offered a similar solution called Tag. The popularity of QR codes is on a fast growth trajectory and a study shows that ‘smart phone users scanning the QR codes to access products and services information has led to a measured 9.840 per cent year over year increase for the third quarter of 2011.’ In another study conducted to determine the growing usage of QR codes by ad agency MGH, 72 per cent of smart phone users indicated that they would be likely to recall an ad with a QR code. This growth opens new opportunities for businesses and marketers seeking to leverage the mobile web. The main advantages of the QR code are cost, simplicity and ease of implementation. QR codes provide no incremental cost to a business already printing or selling ads, and add quantifiable potential to mobile commerce.

Smart phone scan-able black and white squares are not yet seen in Pakistan. In local market, I raised the subject of QR codes among tech savvy entrepreneurs. Rafay Bin Ali, IT Operations Manage, Lading Solutions Interface says, “there is little question that like bar codes, QR Codes are going to be part of our reality and everyday life in the local market. Given the convenience, I believe they’ll soon be recognized as one of the best suited options to connect real world to the online world.”

If there is one thing that can be counted on in our technological future, it is that information will continue to become more widespread, available and relevant. The internet will expand from a network of computers to a network of everything, with interactivity pre-programmed into nearly every object we use. Seeing the popularity and availability of smart phones, businesses need to adopt QR Codes and offer smart phone scan-able content that offer true value to consumers. Behaviourally speaking, the mass scanning of QR codes will most certainly depend on the utility of what the QR codes hold for users. That is where marketing innovations come in. The catalyst for marketing success will ultimately lie in the creative ways implementation of codes. Give consumers an enriching experience, a reason (or incentive), and they are likely to follow.

It may take some time before businesses start offering scan-able objects for offline use, but the direct relationship between an object’s online persona and the offline consumers will ultimately lead to better marketing and business growth.

Also in Pakistan Today 

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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Thursday, March 11, 2021, ,

Powerful Paradigm

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There is a statue in a square of Rotterdam. This effigy has been carved out of stone. It is a human looking up into the sky, as if trying to stop what is coming down with his hands raised and there is a hole where his heart should be. Disproportionate, parts of the figure are not at the right places nor are seemingly fitting in the scheme of sculpture – neck is not exactly in the centre of the shoulders and is sticking out, elbows are at a little distance from arms. Similarly, legs, ankles, feet, stomach and chest all seem out of place. Seeing the sculpture from a distance gives an impression that it will wither away with the wind.

This Artwork was put on display in Rotterdam in 1951. Reflection of thoughts of sculptor Ossip Zadkine, thinkers of the city as well as the municipality, this statue was erected here after the World War II to commemorate bombing and burning down of the city.
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Wednesday, March 10, 2021, ,

Mishri Mor

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I have been passing from Mishri Mor (called 8 RD) all my life while going and coming home. This time Husain Qazi explored the hinterland and passed through Mishri Mor and he range me from there. That is what reminded me of this, hence this post. Husain! this is in your name.

While traveling off the beaten track, not only you travel in soot free and serene environment but you explore new vistas too. Interesting things come in the way, which normally remain hidden from common commuters in the area. The journey on the byways embraces you with lovely colors, atmosphere, people and bits and pieces of history. And, there is no hassle anywhere in the way.
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Tuesday, March 09, 2021, ,

Shagufta Bano - Mano na Mano

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While doing interpretership (Russian Language) from National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad, we were taken to different publishing houses. Having tea after the presentation at one of the publishing houses, we got a chance to talk informally to the wonderful people there.

While talking with Dr. Farahat Naqi – the owner and brain behind the success of the concern – Dr. Shagufta Bano – one of my favorite teachers -- came under discussion. I believed and praised my teacher. Dr. Naqvi listened to my discourse for some time and finally raised his hands and said, “Please stop. Stop! I know her more than you do because she is my wife for last 30 years.”

I can’t caption this! Can you?

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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Monday, March 08, 2021, ,

Migratory Birds

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Pakistan receives a large number of migratory birds from Europe and Central Asian States every year. These birds spend the winters in Pakistan and go back to their native habitats in the summers. The route these birds take from Siberia to Pakistan is known as International Migratory Birds' Route Number 4. It is also called the Green Route or Indus Flyway. Out of seven flyways, Indus Flyway is one of the busiest routes. Birds begin their journey in November. February is the peak time and by March they start flying back. These periods may vary depending upon weather conditions in Siberia and in Pakistan.



Birds' migration is of different forms: diurnal (during day), nocturnal (night flights), altitudinal (from heights to lower parts) and latitudinal (from north to south). One of the reasons for migration is that food is not available in indigenous habitats during winter seasons. Other factors include changes in temperature, reduced daylight hours, and instinctive behaviour.
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Friday, March 05, 2021, ,

Cloud Computing

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Cloud computing is the next big thing in the Information Technology (IT) development. The concept has come a long way since it first came on the scene in the late 1960s. Since then demand driven computing industry has started offering solutions rather than specific hardware and software to link together the complicated global infrastructure. Computing is turning into cloud computing it seems.

The “cloud” in metaphoric term “cloud computing” is a set of hardware, software, networks, storage, and interfaces that combine to deliver different features of computing as a service over the internet (either as separate components or as a composite platform) based on users’ demand. Simply put, cloud computing is a service through which everything from computing power to computing infrastructure, applications, business processes to personal collaboration can be delivered to users wherever and whenever they need.
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Wednesday, March 03, 2021, ,

Indigenous Kelash culture

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Centuries old Kelash indigenous culture is at a greater risk today than any time in the past. Despite their remote location - landlocked in winters - last of the Kelash race is maintaining tenacious hold in district Chitral but is vulnerable to ravages of time and different pressures with external locus. The onslaughts are clearly eating at their open and nonchalant indigenous culture. Many have been forced to join the drift to the cities. But when asked what they want, their collective answer was simple: we want our old way of life. Which is why, pastoral Kelash have been able to keep some of their cultural traditions and identity so far.

Some historians and anthropologists think that the Kelash are descendants of Indo-Aryans who overran the region in the second millennium BC. The Kelash say they are from a place called Tsiam, though nobody is sure where that is. Commonly they are considered as descendants of Alexander from Macedon who came this way. Their warrior like forebears managed for centuries to keep everyone - including Tamerlane - at bay. In 1893, the British and Afghan governments agreed on a common border that cut right through Kafiristan dividing the community into two parts. Abdur Rahman who was then Amir of Afghanistan renamed Afghan Kafiristan as Nuristan - land of Light.
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Tuesday, March 02, 2021, ,


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