Sajjad's Blog

An insider's view of Saudi Arabia (via Wirefarm). Reading this, I have newfound respect for my home country. I just hope Pakistan never deteriorates anywhere near to this level.

The incident involving the burnt schoolgirls reminded me of one on the night after the battle of Karbala (AD 680/AH 61). When the tents of the House of Mohammad were set on fire, the women consulted Imam Zainul-Abidin (A.S.), great grandson of the Prophet Mohammad and the only surviving male adult, about whether they should burn inside or leave the tents. The Imam decreed that saving their life was of utmost priority, therefore they must leave the tents.

How it became religious to let young women burn or be battered and abused by the men I just can't imagine.

Posted at 13:35pm PKT Comments | ¶

A good friend, Faraz Nayyar, has started his own blog. Good to see more Pakistanis getting started with blogging though it'll probably be a while before we have a community comparable to others such as Persian or Japanese. Wider use of Urdu script should help as well.

Posted at 17:32pm PKT Comments(652) | ¶

This month started really hot, dry and sunny. It ends with a week of rain and thunder. The last few days have been especially bad. Current weather: Cold with light, but continuous rain.

Posted at 17:22pm PKT Comments(1) | ¶

Found LinuxPackages.net which is a repository of all kinds of packages built for Slackware. Useful for when you don't have time to build something from source.

Next, I still have a couple of servers running Red Hat 7.3, which was retired by Red Hat last year. This meant that they couldn't be updated by regular means. The Fedora Legacy project provides these crucial updates so that the life of these systems can be extended. You'll need to install Yum for easier updating but you could just download the packages and manually update. I just gave it a try and it downloaded quite a few header files but didn't seem to update anything. Will have to check the configuration.

Posted at 23:21pm PKT Comments(1) | ¶

Sorry, we couldn't be together on your first one after our wedding (another one of those weird customs of sending the bride to her parent's home for a while). I'll make it up to you when I'm in Karachi next week. Take care.

Posted at 18:07pm PKT Comments(1) | ¶

Via VinBlog. Some memorable dialogues from Hindi movies as well as translations of some of the funnier ones (familiarity with Hindi or Urdu will help):

The villain has the heroine tied to an electric chair with a long electric wire leading to a switch. The villain throws the switch and the electricity is now shown flowing towards the heroin. The hero is running towards the heroine racing with electricity to save her, and yes he is catching up. The villain at this point shouts to his chamcha: "Charlie voltage baddhao, electicity jaldee jayegi".

The last line translates to, "Charlie increase the voltage, it will make the electricity go faster". 'chamcha' is literally spoon, but in this case refers to minion or gromit. I guess translating English movies would be equally hilarious for Urdu/Hindi speakers.

"There is no chamcha".

Posted at 16:43pm PKT Comments(3) | ¶

How strange. I was just reading about perpetual motion machines a couple of days ago. It seems that a Japanese musician has developed a means to harness the power of permanent magnets, something I have been wondering about for some time. Read about it here (via Wirefarm):

I don't see a date so it could be an April Fool's joke, but it doesn't seem likely. If it wasn't for them stating that he has actually sold some of these and has gotten patents for it, I would have dismissed it as a prank. Afterall, it has lots of similarities with the Keely Motor Company, one of the biggest scientific frauds in recent history.

Posted at 12:58pm PKT Comments(4) | ¶

Buses seamed to have died out in Islamabad a couple of years ago. Sure, there are the vans and mini-buses, but not the large, spacious things you would find in another city. I rarely use the local public transport here, but today decided to give the new service a try. Varan already has buses running on different routes in Rawalpindi and have now started running between the Islamabad Secretariat and Rawalpindi's Sadar area, covering two whole cities.

To attract customers (and probably to kill off the smaller vans that are the main form of public transportation in Islamabad), they are charging a measly 5 rupees to go anywhere along the route and running a bus every five minutes or so. Quite amazing to see both the previous and the next bus from the bus you're sitting in. Now that's about 9 yen or 9 cents to go across that whole distance with optimal frequency. I doubt any small-time transporter will be able to survive this assault.

The service is a vaste improvement compared to earlier ones. The vehicles are new and clean, the ticket conductor wears a uniform and hands out a ticket (with others, you just pay the fare without any concept of tickets) and the drivers don't try to race with each other (common cause of accidents). While nowhere near the level of convenience and comfort of Singapore buses (ooh I miss those), I was quite satisfied.

The only thing to worry about is what happens when they have killed off everyone else. Off course a price hike is imminent, but will they maintain the same level of service or will it degrade just like the previous ones? I hope not and looking at how things are progressing these days, there's lots of hope.

Posted at 00:08am PKT Comments | ¶

Returned from Lahore this morning. Among other things I did there was a visit to Hafeez Center, a group of buildings containing countless small and large shops. The main product? Computer hardware.

They had a bunch of stuff from cell phones to piles of used PCs and workstations. A great place for a geek in Pakistan though nothing compared to Tokyo's Akihabara or Singapore's towers full of gadgets and geek toys. PC displays were abundant and so were used branded desktop systems, but I couldn't find a single shop that had a decent collection of mice.

Maybe things are different further down in places like Karachi, but that's one of the things that really bugs me about virtually any kind of shopping in Pakistan. Everyone carries the same stuff. I miss places like T-Zone and Sofmap in Tokyo where you could find dozens of models of any piece of hardware or the specialized shops that sold just Unix machines. Or the stores that carried a wide variety of a certain type of food, for example. In Pakistan (or at least in Islamabad), you can go to the biggest grocery store and still get pretty much the same type of goods you'll get at a smaller one, just in a better shape or in higher quantity.

The main reason for this is probably the hesitant nature of sellers (as well as buyers). Nobody likes to take risks. Everyone tries to do the same thing the guy next door is doing without realizing that in the end, everyone will suffer from the increased competition. The buyers initially get a better price, but also suffer from lack of choice and an eventual decline in the quality of service.

Maybe some hope is to be found in the better areas of Islamabad and Karachi, but they have a long way to go.

Posted at 23:01pm PKT Comments(5) | ¶

Had a good jolt at around 2:15am, right here in Islamabad. Quakes are usually quite small, but this one was comparable to some of the scarier ones in Tokyo during the last couple of years.

What makes 'em really frightening here is that most buildings are badly designed (if designed at all) and either use too much or too little of the required materials. Forget about being built to withstand e@rthquakes.Maybe that's why I could hear rumbling from the houses around me. It terrified Bushra since they are virtually unheard of down in Karachi. Good thing she isn't in Japan.

Posted at 18:14pm PKT Comments(1) | ¶

Ten years ago, my favorite musician shot himself at the relatively young age of 27. Admittedly, I wasn't really a fan at that time and was only exposed to Nirvana's music after Kurt's death, but it was still a huge part of my turbulent life back then.

The Beeb has a pretty good article on Cobain's life, together with comments from other fans and individuals:

I didn't know he had talked about suicide earlier, but I guess there couldn't have been a different ending than this for someone so troubled and full of angst.

Ten years. Has it really been that long? It's things like this, coupled with my prodigal long-term Memory that make me realise how old I've suddenly become (almost as old as Kurt was at the time of his death). I don't seem to have many friends and close family members that remember events older than the 90s. Time for some Pennyroyal Tea.

Posted at 19:18pm PKT Comments(1) | ¶

Looks like I missed it (or survived it). Yesterday was the 4th day of the 4th month of 2004. As mentioned here, the number 4 is sometimes called 'shi', the word for death.

Posted at 14:47pm PKT Comments | ¶

After years of using Linux and advocating it, I've finally come to the conclusion that it's just not suitable for serious use. I'll probably keep it around in some shape, but from now on, my operating system of choice will be Windows XP.

Although I used to have a lot of fun playing around with Linux and trying to tweak it, I've realised that it's all a complete waste of time and really does nothing to improve productivity. Windows XP on the other hand, comes tweaked and ready for everything. The interface is nice and intuitive and application support has never been better. It's also gotten very secure.

Penguins may be cute, but nothing beats butterflies when it comes to aesthetics.

Posted at 10:25am PKT Comments(1) | ¶

KO puts forward some views about cricket that I share completely:

"The UK gave up on cricket a long time ago, but sadly this so called sport still persists in the Empire’s former colonies. Its a terribly elitist and clubby sport. For the British army officers posted to the middle of just about every forever back during the days of the Empire, cricket served a vital purpose. They could form their little cliques and clubs and spend whole days weeks just passing the time away. It can be argued that there is nothing like a mind numbingly boring and totally pointless activity to while away the times, and cricket fitted the bill so well that someone would have had to invent it during the days of the Empire if it hadn’t already existed."

Read the whole piece here:

Posted at 13:13pm PKT Comments(3) | ¶

This site is currently the hot topic on quite a few blogs and news sites. Elena, an avid biker, has dared to go into the "Dead Zone" around Chernobyl and document her rides on its deserted roads.

Until now, I hadn't really known much about the Chernobyl disaster and this has really brought forward what effect it had on the people, the surrounding area and the world's view of nuclear technology. A whole town devoid of life, empty roads, death everywhere. Something you wouldn't think existed outside movies and sci-fi novels.

Now considering that I don't live too far from a nuclear reactor myself, I have another reason to move somewhere else. Still, I think the world learnt something from Chernobyl and hopefully, we won't see anything like it ever again.

Posted at 11:11am PKT Comments | ¶

For the last few months, I've noticed a lot of changes taking place in the capital. Initially, I thought these were just due to the summit that took place in January, but these have continued long after that.

A missile that was acting as a monument in the middle of a roundabout near F-10, was taken down after relations with India started to improve. Palm trees sprung up on the road leading to the main government buildings (though this project seems to have failed, given the nature of Islamabad's climatic extremes) and more recently, road-sides are being redone with new trees and shrubs being planted. The road leading up the Margalla hills to "Pir Sohawa" is now brightly lit and presents an awesome sight from the city below.

Apart from these, I've also noticed an increase in entertainment events taking place in this previously quiet and sleepy city. Hordes of people were out for the Basant festival last month around the main park in F-9, the same place where the Islamabad Police hosted an event recently.

An event called "SAF Expo" is underway near the smaller hills of Shakar Parian as well as a fair with rides and other attractions. Even foreign holidays are often celebrated.

During the past week, huge billboards have suddenly gone up around the main roads though they are still empty of any advertisements. I wonder if they are a way to fund all this other development.

All this is great, but I think the authorities should be putting more emphasis on improving the housing situation. With little being done to expand the city, prices of existing land and houses have sky-rocketed. Most people are now forced to live in outlying areas like mine, that don't fall under the control of the Capital Development Authority and lack basic facilities.

If a viable solution to this issue could be found, I just may consider staying here, but until then, I'll keep thinking about Lahore, Karachi and all the other places.

Posted at 14:09pm PKT Comments | ¶

So how do I feel after having to work almost non-stop, without rest or a good meal for over 32 hours? Awesome. I just hope I can leave "early" tonight.

Posted at 20:21pm PKT Comments | ¶

So much to blog about yet so little time. If only I could implement some kind of protocol for communicating from thoughts alone (over an encrypted SSH channel off course) :-).

For short, "Ashura", the day of mourning, went quite well here though the bomb blasts in Baghdad and the shooting in Quetta were the worst type of things that only served to increase the grief of us mourners.

Another horrible event was the Madrid bombing. Seems like no place is safe these days, sacred or otherwise. And no, I don't believe invading more countries will improve the situation in any way.

Was in Peshawar most of yesterday. Will try to write about it soon.

Victor has almost completed his picture section of his visit to Pakistan. It includes photos from my wedding, the Eid celebration and other observations he made while here. Check it out (Warning! Includes gruesome photos of animals being sacrificed and a bride and groom trapped under huge flowery headgears):

If only he stopped using frames. I'll also try to complete my style sheet-based album soon.

That's all the time I have for now.

Posted at 23:27pm PKT Comments | ¶

Went shopping for a test/build machine last week and found a nice used IBM Netfinity server with 2 processors. Slightly underpowered, but good enough for most functions. And it looks really cool too.

Now building binary packages of all my favorite software on Slackware Linux. One thing I couldn't find was an smp-supported kernel with the distribution which is quite odd since Slackware is considered more of a server or expert oriented distro.

Decided on building my own 2.6 kernel which seems to be working fine, except that I can't see the two penguins (one for each CPU) at boot time. Some problem with the framebuffer settings which I didn't bother fixing. I'm tempted to replace the Dell desktop I'm using with one of these.

Posted at 22:06pm PKT Comments | ¶

After about 3 weeks of it collecting dust in my house, I managed to drop my bike off at the repair shop last Monday. Just that task required the services of a pick-up van since even the closest repair shop is too far from my house to drag the bike there.

Now that the engine has been remade, it has to run about 1,000 km before it gets back into proper shape. That task is bigger than it looks due to the engine's small size: 70cc.

So according to the mechanic, I shouldn't ride faster than 40 km/h, take any passengers or go non-stop over long distances until the running is complete. I think I used to ride my mountain bike faster than that. It was definitely more fulfilling. I miss that bike.

Posted at 11:52am PKT Comments | ¶