rand(25);

I have been tagged by SAWJ to write 25 random thing about me. I never really intended to oblige, but for some reason I feel like doing it now. So here is my attempt at discovering myself..

1. I’m very unpredictable. Sometimes, I surprise myself with this unpredictability.
2. I used to be an extremely angry person few years ago. I’ve learnt to manage that and now I come across as someone who rarely loses his temper.
3. Since many people have mentioned this one, I’d say so too…I used to weigh about 90kgs, 6 years ago. Now I’m consistent well under 70 and for the first time in life I am even thinking about putting on some weight.
4. I like women who wear glasses. I find them very attractive.
5. I always suspect people are following me. I get very cautious when someone gets close while walking (close here may mean not-so-close for other people) and I use the mirrors a lot as well for the same reason while driving.
6. I used to maintain a diary until 2006 in which I wrote a list of laws that I’d introduce if I ever get a chance to rule Pakistan. At that point I realised its unlikely that I’ll ever get that opportunity. The diary has over 100 rules and laws and it was titled ‘Secret writings of a hopeful PM’ and I might share it at some point later.
7. I can lie with an intensely serious face. I’m a good liar. I avoid it because of the guilt that creeps in later.
8. I like winters. No, I love them!
9. I’m NOT a very social person, unlike my family. In fact, I’d be the least social among all.
10. I trust myself to a great extent.
11. I’m a good judge of people.
12. I don’t argue on subjects which I have no knowledge about and expect the people to do so. It really ticks me off if someone (naive) is arguing with me about something which I’m working on or which is my field.
13. I was a very shy person as long as I was in Saudi Arabia. The transformation started when I moved to Abu Dhabi, but the shyness isn’t gone yet.
14. The fear of losing motivates me most towards success.
15. I’m very punctual (not if I know the other person is going to be late as usual).
16. I am quite emotional, but I never show it. NEVER!
17. I respect privacy and expect others to do so. A mobile phone and a laptop is something personal and off-limit for others, at all times.
18. Those who read this blog already know this but since I’m running out of more I’ll say it again. I plan a lot and am good at time management.
19. I am acrophobic.
20. I don’t like ringing mobiles. My phone remains on vibrator unless absolutely necessary to give it some sound.
21. Whenever going to a restaurant or sitting in a lab or any other place where I can pick my seat, I always take the one with the widest view possible including the entrance. This is not because I want to keep an eye on all the chicks out there but probably because of the suspicions (read point 5). Okay, maybe chicks too!
22. I don’t like sci-fi any more. I usually end up finding flaws in the concept.
23. I am kids’ magnet. I have not come across a baby/kid who is not attracted towards me. Maybe I look funny.
24. I dream of having a house with a library of my own inside and a bathroom made of glass in a space larger than my bedroom. Will never happen, I know.
25. I cannot share bedroom. If I have to do it under extreme circumstances, there is a large safe distance that has to be maintained at all times of sleep. This thing is worrying when I think about it (for the near future).

I can’t believe I’ve done this *thumping my fists in jubilation* … I think I can write more

I won’t tag anyone. Its not ethical

If you feel like doing a post like this and haven’t been tagged then go ahead, and tag yourself.

(another) new beginning

Finally, I have found the perfect theme for this blog! The last couple of themes were pretty simple and boring but this one makes sense. The twitter streams are here (and i can add facebook too), so even if there is a long break before the posts are updated, the tweets will probably be flowing in. The flickr streams look nice too. Although I havent used flickr since creating an account some years back I decided to give it a go now. And I found my mobile phone supports one push uploading to flickr account, so its great!

Ok enough bragging…whether you guys like it or not, I really dont care….and to answer a comment earlier by Hira..yes NOW im in love..with this theme!

and in case no one noticed, for the first time ive placed my name as the title of the blog

there are still some issues with the theme which i will sort out with time, so if u get stuck somewhere while navigating…u can be assured that im tinkering at the backend without any knowledge of php

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…that ONE thing

If there is ONE thing in the world you couldn’t live without what would that be? Or, one achievement of science that has completely changed your life? Loads of discoveries, technology, gadgets and wonders swarm through the mind at such questions. A close analysis of my own life revealed something that even surprised myself and this may even be the case for many people around the world. I can’t live without caffeine! I can’t imagine life without it.

Recently I have been consuming 3-4 cups of coffee and a litre of energy drinks with 30mg/100ml caffeine content. Each cup of coffee contains 150mg of caffeine on average. The total is daily consumption is around 900mg. On top of that I also stumbled upon the details of caffeine content in Pepsi/Coke (which is my childhood, as well as current, addiction).A can of [diet]Pepsi/Coke contains about 45-50 grams of the this awesome chemical content: 1,3,7-trimethyl-1H-purine-2,6(3H,7H)-dione (read Caffeine).

Caffeine provides me with the necessary kick early in the morning to move around. Another cup of coffee keeps me focused in the morning class. Having a habit of studying at nights, caffeine is the only thing that can keep me awake and active. So is my addiction to caffeine due to ‘academic reasons? The answer is NO, because I still consume a similar amount even when I’m not studying (and I don’t know why!). Perhaps, that is indeed addiction.

I have been told of the downsides. The effects on health and stuff. But this post is not about the medical crap. Since my realization that caffeine is the best thing chemists have ever given to us, I have been itching to pay tribute to Friedrich Ferdinand Runge, the man who discovered caffeine. The guy deserved a Nobel Prize at least!!

So what is that ONE thing you can’t imagine to live without? [no laptops, mobiles and internet please]

Bunking Classes…

When was the first time I bunked a class? I thought for this about a good ten minutes. The answer wasn’t easy and went back to all my childhood days. As far as I recalled, it was in grade 3!! I can’t believe this!

My first ever bunk (as best as my memory serves) was a karate class in grade 3. I also remember the reasons pretty well. It was the karate instructor who thought he was playing with people of his own age while the kids were atleast three times younger than him. I remember him hitting a fellow classmate badly (but that kid was strong!) and I fled in the next class and ended up playing soccer. I had no idea that would be the first of many bunks in the coming years.

If I plot a a graph of the number of bunks versus the time of academic year, the maximum activity is by far concentrated in the years 2005-2007, the university days. Not only I sacrificed a P on the attendance roll but also risked falling below the minimum attendance level benchmark. I was fortunate enough to have people who fell well below that mark but still managed to squeeze their way out which gave me enough courage to take that risk. I was also fortunate of being in the ‘good books’ of most teachers and instructors which helped a lot. I could always argue that my academic performance despite being absent was never affected.

I also received an honor at my postal address warning that the current attendance situation may lead to my withdrawal from the college They always used that at NUST to threaten the parents!

Back to the bunking subject..Why does someone bunk a class? I had many reasons (not in any particular order):

1) Potential boring lecture
2) Pathetic teacher
3) Awesome weather
4) Pending assignments
5) Test prep (for the next class!)
6) Project work
7) Sleep, hunger or need for some caffeine Cricket match (sometimes)

And we usually ended up at Mc Donald’s (stadium road) after bunking. (yeah, we prepared there for tests and exams and did our assigns there)

I actually believe that bunking classes can enhance the performance of a student if he/she is really interested in studying. If not interested, then sitting in a class idly does no good either. A serious student will study his books more carefully after missing a class and be less dependent on the teachers.

On the same note, the minimum attendance limits should therefore not be placed because if a student is capable of missing classes and still able to do well in his exams then why force him to attend classes? Can someone please agree?!!!!

Note: ‘Bunking’ and ‘not attending’ may have been used interchangeably above – I’m not reviewing it!

Are You Willing To Help?

This happened on my Etihad Airways flight to Abu Dhabi and the airhostess mentioned below was Australian (arghh!! that accent takes a while to understand!).

Airhostess: Sir, are you willing to help your fellow passengers in case of an emergency?

Me: I hope there is no emergency

Air hostess: Not at all sir, but in case…

Me: Ofcourse, but why am I the only person being asked this?

Air hostess: Sir, you’re seated next to the emergency exit and your co-operation may be needed in case of an emergency.

Me: *looks to his right and realized why the seat felt extra spacious*

Me: Well, okay

Air hostess: *smiles at poor me* Sir, please read through the door-opening instructions carefully

..after reading

Me: I’ll be more confident if I’m allowed to try it once

Air hostess: NO! Please don’t unless a member of the cabin crew asks you to. In any case, this won’t be required hopefully.

Me: Ok, I was just making sure.

Air hostess: Enjoy your flight

And then I slept…

Because of the emergency door on my right, there was no armrest. Suddenly something appeared from the right side of my seat which matched the seat color. Partially conscious (and I don’t know why) I pressed and hit that thing pretty hard (the reasons of that action are not yet known). Immediately, I heard a low sound from my back and realized it was the foot of the passenger sitting behind me!

I quickly slept again.

Blog Revamped

After some 12 highly caffeinated nights and a similar number of slothful days, I’ve finally managed to tweak and modify the theme by Michael Jubel, to suit my needs and replace the older one (also by the same guy). To play around with the theme’s code, I backed up my entire blog on my computer, which in itself was a useful experience. Now, I don’t fear losing any data of mine because of the scheduled back up files that arrive in my mailbox. I never feared losing data before either, until I read about its importance recently. The main advantage of having an exact copy of the blog running locally is that the users don’t get to see the mess you create while adding or deleting a piece of code unadvertently. Plus, the time of development and testing phase reduces markedly as the local copy is running without the need of Internet, which btw, is an added advantage if your service provider’s electricity supply is not synchronised with yours (as is the case with me).

WordPress themes are freely available in abundance all over the web. Its a matter of choice and almost every kind is available without sparing a penny. But as with all free stuff, there is a certain limitation to it. Thankfully, the open nature provides us with enough opportunities to alter the themes according to out needs.

I liked the previous theme alot. Not only was it simple and elegant, it had a nice way of presenting the content. Unfortunately, the simplicity it had on the user-end wasn’t the case at the admin side. In fact, it was a pain! I did manage to hang on to it for some time, modifying this current new theme in that period. This theme is going to stay for a longer period of time (I think!).

Each time I attempt to tinker with the WordPress code, I marvel at the easiness of the code. The hard work behind the whole platform is well evident.

The current changes in the blog is not limited to theme. The title has been changed as well to go with my current activities. There was a plugin which allowed users to reply to comments. It was given to me by SAWJ, and has been removed on his professional advise. A new plugin, which allows users to subscribe to comments has been added instead.

Ohh..and the new favicon too. It came with the theme, but I did tweak it a little as well.

Furthermore, on certain requests, I have encrypted certain albums in the photos section with passwords.

One thing that hasn’t changed is the focus on politics. This will anger at least one person for sure, but I assure him that time will change soon

I sincerely hope that the new design will be liked by the regular visitors. In case you don’t like it, please don’t say so!