Oscar for Bloggers

Red Carpet, Camera Flashes, Glamorous outfits, and Sexy gadgets. Ladies & Gentlemen, it wasn’t an ordinary award night, it wasn’t about actors, stars, drama queens, and Directors. It wasn’t about acknowledging efforts of those people who entertain us in front of camera using traditional media.

It was all about recognizing the work of those Rebellious People who choose to go against rules and regulations of this ordinary and complicated Society. It was about those who decided to have their own views, their own thoughts, and their own voices. It was about those people who see each and every thing, their own way and they just share it around with millions of others. It was about those who are carrying the flag of PAKISTAN in Social Media. It was a night to acknowledge and recognize the efforts of Bloggers, Pakistani Bloggers.

Badar Khushnood (Google Pakistan country Consultant) and Rabia Garib from CIOPakistan deserve credits for bringing whole Pakistani’s blogosphere and fraternity under one roof and organizing Pakistan’s first ever Blog Awards. It was held at Regent Plaza hotel in Karachi on 28th May 2010. Bloggers from all part of Pakistan was present and met with  fellows whom they knew by their Twitter IDs only. There were 3 UnConference sessions as well, attended by Experts from different Corporate sectors in which they gave an opportunity for audience to ask and discuss about different topics covering Social Media and Pakistan.

Thanx to regular tweets from few attendees and Video stream, those who weren’t able to make it, they felt part of it too. Although there were few slip-ups from the organizing point of view but i believe that by the time it will get better, since it was first time event of this kind happened. I am sure events like this will increase the profile of Blogging and using social media in Pakistan. It will encourage lot of people to start blogging.

I would like to Congratulate all the winners. You guys are the future of Pakistan. Keep up the Good Work.

Few pictures from the Award Night.  Taken from CIOPakistan

View Full Album

For more Pictures  Check out CIOPakistan

 

So did you attended the event? what's your comment about it? How was the overall show? Did you won an award?

Technorati Tags: Oscar,Bloggers,PAKISTAN,Google,CIOPakistan,Karachi,Twitter

Legend of Pakistan’s Film Industry

“Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint you can on it.”  Danny Kaye. 

Saeed Khan just did the same. He tried as much as he can to bring colors into people’s life. No wonder he decided to be known as Rangeela (The one who is full of colors). They says, Being a comedian is a toughest job in the world. It does play a key role in any drama, film and play. Therefore you only sees limited number of writers, directors and Actors who can just show up with anything and it brings laughter and smile to everyone faces. Saeed Khan was  one of them.

He is the only artist in the world who has tried each and every aspect of film making, professionally. At a time he is Writer, Actor, Director, Producer, Screen Play writer, Dialogue writer, Composer, Singer, distributor and exhibitor in a single movie.  One can only imagine how the former movie hoardings painter from Lahore, after painting so many filmi billboards might have had dreams of his own, of one day joining the ranks of films greats.

He started his career as extra in MJ Rana’s ‘ Jatti’ but got in fame when he worked with Munawwar Zareef in ‘ Dia aur Toofan’. A famous song from this movie was ‘ Gaa meray Manwa Gaata Jaa ray, Jaana hai hum ka door’, was sung by him. He went on to give another hits, ‘Rangeela’ and ‘Dil aur Dunya’ thus completing the hat trick of blockbusters. All these 3 movies was directed by him.  After showering his colors around for around 35 years, Rangeela passed away on 24th May 2005 at the age of 69.

Total Films	660
Urdu Films	244
Punjabi Films	395
Pashto	19
Hindko	1
Sindhi	1

“In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.” – Bill Cosby .

Here is an interview conducted by Anwar Maqsood.

Have you watched any of his movie, heard his jokes then please share your comments. 

AAJ KA SAWAL

What is #AAJKASAWAL? Just a random questions asked by a common man, related to daily life. Which can be funny and serious. Looking for answers through your contributions. Feel free to answer it in any manner. Either give a practical one or make a joke out of it.. As long as you enjoy answering it

#AAJKASAWAL is timeline of a questions being asked daily on Twitter and Facebook. Includes, Humor, Politics, GK, IQ . Main idea is to create interaction between everyone and to provide some entertainment. 

We have a fan page on facebook where every one of you use to interact but since facebook is banned in Pakistan, i have decided to take it over here until the ban get removed. Feel free to float your idea on how can we reach out more audience. After all its You guys who are contributing in it and without we wouldn't have created this fan base. 

AAJKASAWAL : Would you rather lose all of your old memories, or never be able to make new ones?

You can reply through the comments box below. 

Cheers. 

Typical Hypocrisy by Facebook

I was just waiting for it, an official response from Facebook after it got banned in Pakistan, thanx to ignorant attitude showed by Facebook’s officials for not removing a content from it site which is harming the feelings of Muslims all over the world. I was expecting that they will apologize for not being able to take action quickly and they will remove the page now, but hell no, they are actually defending it.
Facebook said in a statement to AFP, “We are analysing the situation and the legal considerations, and will take appropriate action, which may include making this content inaccessible to users in Pakistan,” – Like users in Pakistan doesn’t know how to access it. All those IT Geeks are sharing their knowledge on twitter, on how to bypass the proxy.
But the best part comes here. The statement from the Palo Alto, California-based social network said:
“we want Facebook to be a place where people can openly discuss issues and express their views, while respecting the rights and feelings of others. With now more than 400 million users from around the world… we sometimes find people discussing and posting about topics that others may find controversial, inaccurate, or offensive,” it said. “While some kinds of comments and content may be upsetting for someone – criticism of a certain culture, country, religion, lifestyle, or political ideology, for example – that alone is not a reason to remove the discussion,” it said. “We strongly believe that Facebook users have the freedom to express their opinions, and we don’t typically take down content, groups or pages that speak out against countries, religions, political entities, or ideas.”
As statement says, they don’t take down content just so easily, even though its targeting any religion or politics. But here i know lot of my friends, those suffered with getting their profile, groups or pages being removed without any prior notice and without any valid reason. Just an auto mail from Facebook saying you have violated the rules of targeting certain group, religion and country. And Facebook doesn’t even allow them to save their data, like pictures, videos, notes. They just have to start over everything. And here it goes, last one they says:
“Nazi content is illegal in some countries” but said “that does not mean it should be removed entirely from Facebook.” “Most companies approach this issue by preventing certain content from being shown to users in the countries where it is illegal and that is our approach as well,” it added.
So why don’t they do with the same thing for those profiles and groups. Why this rule is being followed now only. Aren’t they just being Hypocrite.
I am always against the censorship of Internet, but this ban on FaceBook is not censorship. It is to register Pakistan's protest. via @Hameedullah Khan
For those who has suffered this, got their profile or groups has been blocked or deleted by Facebook, please share with us. What reason they gave you and was there any prior notice?

Is it right to Boycot Facebook?

Most of you guys know by now about this event created on Facebook which will happen on 20th May 2010, insulting PROPHET (P.B.U.H). Certainly it has created hatred among the Muslim community and now there are 2 groups. One of them think that We should Boycot Facebook on that day and other one claims to be active and spread Islam's preaching and Prophet (P.B.U.H) life style. I found this interesting note written by Adnan Ali :

Why I will not boycott Facebook on May 20, 2010

My name is Adnan Ali and this is why I will not sign off or boycott Facebook on May 20, 2010.


As you know someone has created a page on Facebook to collaborate the “Draw Muhammad Day”, NauzibAllah , Astaghfar, shame on the antagonist and participants.

Muslims on Facebook are outraged by this act of blasphemy and due to our immense respect and love for our Prophet Muhammad PBUH, have been reporting the page in the Racist / Hate Speech category. I have done so myself. Apparently Facebook has not acted upon what we Muslims think are its own rules and policies about user generated content on Facebook.

Since then, there has been a growing demand by the Muslims on Facebook to boycott the platform and it has been rumored that Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has been asked by the Pakistan government to block Facebook or the disputed Page’s URL. [Update: ProPakistani.pk is reporting that PTA has indeed blocked the Page URL.]

I will not be supporting any such boycott by Muslim users of Facebook, nor shall I support any block or ban by the PTA. Here is why:

1. Boycotts are the easy way out. Boycotts achieve little and they are just a self satisfaction tool.

2. If the 2,359,620 Pakistanis choose to delete their accounts on Facebook, it is going to make no economic or social difference on Facebook.

3. This is a media war. Muslims have always been prone to emotional discourse which provides immense pleasure to our enemies. Moreover, boycotts are going to leave the social media space open for those who hold wrong beliefs about our Prophet PBUH.

4. Why should PTA ban this page in Pakistan? It does not have jurisdiction over other countries. So, PTA is stopping Muslims in Pakistan from accessing this page? How does that make sense? Why are Muslims in Pakistanis visiting this page in the first place? I think that no Muslim worth his salt would visit such pages and therefore PTA can stay away from banning the internet.

5. Allowing government interruption and censure on the internet will lead to precedence. Which sites will be next? Local sites where the government is criticized for politics and policy? This is a wrong and dangerous step and we should not in any case accept government censure of the internet in Pakistan.

6. Boycotting something like this will only give it more life. Imagine all the status messages that have the link of the page. We are actually spreading this virus rather than burying it. Add to this, other pages and groups created by Muslims which highlight the content of the blasphemous page. This is ridiculous behavior.

7. Our emotional outbursts are only going to be picked up by mainstream media and then everyone can join and laugh at our activities.

8. For most of us so called aggrieved people, we disrespect, ridicule and deny the teachings of Prophet Muhammad PBUH when we do not offer prayers, do not fast, lie, steal, bribe or accept bribes, engage in immoral activities etc. So I do not consider that being a Muslim gives us any moral high ground in this situation. As Muslim youth, we are the least educated in Islam. A majority has not opened the Quran or read a Tafseer in ages. A little introspection never hurts.

Here is what I would do if I was so inclined to do so:

1. Instead of promoting the blasphemous content by adding the link to my status message and creating groups and pages that showcase this content, I would sit and contemplate why this is happening.

2. Have no confusion; this is another organized attack just like the original cartoons. They know how we will react to such outrageous behavior. They know that we will boil our blood in emotional outrage and then destroy our own properties, kill our own citizens and provide another body blow to our weak economy.

3. As a reply, I would create a Facebook Group or Page to praise the Prophet Muhammad PBUH, highlight his teachings, his achievements, and his famous sayings, how he taught us to treat the poor and the children and the women. How the Prophet Muhammad PBUH urged caution and care and taught rules even for war.

4. I would ask people to record 1 minute videos about why they love Prophet Muhammad PBUH and recite their favorite Hadeeth.

5. I would narrate how Islam teaches respect for all Prophets of Allah and our faith is incomplete without believing in the Prophets of Allah.

6. I would encourage western and non-muslim scholars to visit the page and add their comments about this issue.

7. I would hope and encourage all Muslims to join this page rather than having small silos of their own. In fact, unity is the only solution here.

I am confident that my solution is better than emotional outbursts and impotent activities like boycotts and governments bans of websites.

You can find the note here

Please leave your comments below whether you support this or not.

Thalassemia Free Pakistan

May 8 is celebrated all over the world as Thalassemia Day. And to create awareness in Pakistan about this disease, PYR-Karachi Chapter organised free blood screening camp at Kashif Iqbal Thalassemia Care Center with the help of Thalassemia Free Pakistan. A site dedicated to create awareness and help Thalassematic patients in country. I would love to share this note posted on Facebook by Enlightening the Intellect. A marvelous piece of info.

What is Thalassemia?

Thalassemia is an inherited characteristic of the blood. It reduces the amount of hemoglobin in a human body, leading to anemia.

What is Anemia?

Deficiency or a lesser count of red blood cells, or too little hemoglobin in blood, is ‘Anemia’ - which simply means a shortage of blood. If the anemia is mild, it does no harm but if it is severe, the person becomes ill, as the tissues do not have sufficient oxygen.

There are two types of Thalassemic patients: ‘Major’ & ‘Minor’


What if you are Thalassemic Major?

If a person is “Thalassemia Major” patient then the person needs continuous blood transfusion. At present there are two treatments available for such patients:

1. Traditional Treatment
2. Bone marrow Transplant


What if you are Thalassemic Minor?

If one is “Thalassemia Minor” then there ISN’T anything to worry about, person may live his/her life to fullest.

The ONLY thing to keep in consideration is that a Thalassemic Minor MUST NOT marry another Thalassemic Minor because this match may result in the transfer of these Genes into the offspring. The chances of the offspring being Thalassemic are as follows:

• Thalassemic Major 50%
• Thalassemic Minor 25%
• Non-Thalassemic 25%


Treatment
Two different treatments are available at present, Traditional Treatment, and Bone-marrow Transplantation. The traditional treatment consists of three patterns:


Traditional Treatment

1. Blood Transfusion
Blood Transfusion is one of the most regularly practiced treatments for Thalassemia. To be precise, the treatment is not blood transfusion, but transfusion of red blood cells. These transfusions are necessary to provide the patient with a temporary supply of healthy red blood cells with normal hemoglobin capable of carrying the oxygen that the patient's body needs.

Today, most patients with a major form of Thalassemia receive red blood cell transfusions every two to three weeks. There are three reasons for blood transfusions.


a) To correct anemia and make sure that tissues get a normal amount of oxygen. This allows thalassemics to live and grow normally.

b) To let the bone marrow rest, so that the bones can develop normally and do not get deformed.

c) To slow down or prevent any increase in the size of spleen.


2. Splenectomy (Removing the Spleen)

When the spleen becomes too active and starts to destroy the red blood cell, transfusions become lesser and less effective. Then it may become necessary to take the spleen out through surgery. This operation is called "Splenectomy".

3. Desferal Treatment
Blood transfusions bring extra iron into the body and if transfusions are regular, iron gradually accumulates in the body. It is stored in certain organs, especially the liver, the heart, and the endocrine glands. The iron behaves like a foreign body, and in the end would damage the organs where it is deposited. Fortunately, there are drugs that help the drainage of iron out of the body. The medication used very regularly is Desferrioxamine, more commonly called ‘Desferal’. Desferal keeps the amount of iron under a safe level in a Thalassemic’s body.

Bone-marrow Transplantation
A Thalassemic's bone marrow is not able to make a normal amount of red blood cells. If the malfunctioning bone marrow can be replaced with a normal bone marrow, this problem is solved.

At present, only young people with a fully compatible donor can have a bone-marrow transplant. A transplant in Pakistan (Zia-ud-Din Hospital, Karachi) or India (Apollo Hospital, Chennai) costs the equivalent of $13,000 to $14,000 (Pak Rs. 9-10 Lakh). A transplant in any other country may vary in cost.

MY HUMBLE REQUEST:

Please get yourself tested because a little Prevention is better than cure.

For more info please visit. Thalassemia Free Pakistan

Pics of the Event: