After incessant chirping of a very good friend, who doesn’t like to see incomplete (or should I say messy?) works, I have finally added some text to the About page of this blog. This time, it’s more than a one-liner. In fact, it suffices the requirement of this friend, who has no other shut-up switch. I’ve always thought of writing some very detailed essay-like composition for that page, but that though has never made it to my high-priority to-do lists. For now, this just serves the purpose and give an idea of the person (mis)handling this web space.
Yahoo! has started registrations for two new domains in addition to their existing @yahoo.com mailing service because of the increasing difficulty for the new registrants to find appropriate IDs, and to attract more customers of course. The registration process is same, i.e. from http://mail.yahoo.com. A drop-down menu has been added to select from either of @yahoo.com, @ymail.com or @rocketmail.com.
This has started at 1900 GMT (19 June), so there may be a chance or your first name being available in case someone is an e-mail freak (like me) or discontent with his/her present childhood e-mail ID.
We apologize the site you are attempting to visit has been blocked due to its content being inconsistent with the religious, cultural, political and moral values of the United Arab Emirates.
This is the message that popped up on my screen while opening http://www.flickr.com here in Abu Dhabi (UAE). It’s not that I’m unaware of their control-the-content policy, what took me by surprise is that they’ve blocked Flickr! They’ve even blocked Orkut here while Facebook remains accessbile
The message that you see above is hilarious actually. It talks about religious, cultural and moral values (politics isn’t the game they play here). While these values are strictly being preserved online, the policy is inconsistent when you just take a 5-minute walk round the park. So, what’s the point in blocking websites if alcohol and girls are so freely available in the society.
Just because of their stupid, inconsistent and unusual blocking policy some cool websites (and all torrents sites) have also come under the hammer either inadvertently or due to sheer negligence.
The journey couldn’t have been worse! The only (and only) satisfaction is that I’ve finally made it to Abu Dhabi. I can write a book over this but I really wish to forget this one. The highlights of this much awaited trek include:
Chaos at the airport entrance due to renovations by CAA, which resulted in a one-hour wait in a queue (was there a queue????)
Passport Control at Jinnah International, Karachi, where a bunch of illiterate old asses were keying in the passenger info and taking helluva time
Delay in flight, but this wasn’t unexpected!
People evironing me in the plane. Oh they were disgusting, and I mean it. With no offence at all, but you can’t really feel good when the people around you remove their shoes and you’re forced to inhale the stinking socks!
Technical faults at the Dubai International Airport. Apparently, the gate wasn’t opening and the aircraft was told to move to another parking spot.
A long line at the Visa Collection Center…aaahh!!! At this time I was exhausted!
But the fun wasn’t over! A HUGE queue at passport control awaited us where a rude lady welcomed me to Dubai!
And then when I finally got out I thought this was over and I could go home in the next 2 hours, I was immediately proved wrong. Actually my dad gave the car for valet parking, and they took more than 30 minutes to get the car back from somewhere they park (or rather dump) it!!
Cleaning up the mess in my wardrobe is one of THE most daunting jobs that I perform atleast once a year. The troubling issues are mainly my inability to fold the clothes in such a manner that they remain intact for a longer duration of time. The upshot of this is that all my day-long diligence is lost the very next day due to a quick (and usually erratic) search for a particular shirt.
BUT….God bless YouTube!! To my relief, I’ve discovered a video demonstrating an easy, simple and extremely effective way to pacify my troubles.
The next thing I need to look out for is a simple way to do the same for formal (dress) shirts. As for now, they are going to laundry!
I will never hide my talents; if I am silent, I am forgotten. If I do not advance, I will fall back. If I walk away from my challenge today, my self-esteem will forever be scarred, and if I cease to grow even a little, I will become smaller. I reject the stationary position because it is always the beginning of the end.
I feel relieved at rendering my national responsiblity. I feel gratified for standing up to what I believe. I feel confident about the future. And, I feel proud to cast MY VOTE!
I must say that stamping the ballot papers was a smooth sailing. The process is pretty simple without any obfuscations. A staff camping outside the polling station checked my name in a list of registered voters and assigned a polling booth to me inside the station, which was a makeshift arrangement inside a kids’ school. Before entering the polling station I was searched professionally (and apologetically) by a young officer among a dozen security officials. I must say that the security arrangements were excellent. Two rangers round the corner on each side, one on the rooftop and about 5 police officials were sighted. No vehicles were being allowed to use the road on which the polling station was located. And this is the arrangement for a polling station in a pretty safe residential area which has no history of violence. Hats off to the government, I hope the law and order situation remains calm all day.
Once inside the polling station, a courteous staff member asked for my National ID (NIC) Card. My credentials were quickly verified by two men in parallel on separate copies of similar electoral rolls and my name was striked out. Moving on to the next table, two men quickly filled in the ballot papers for National and Provincial assemblies with my NIC number and stamped them while a third flecked my left thumb with ink. The ballot papers were handed over to me and I was directed in to a small room where I could stamp my choice in privacy. Moving out of it, I dropped the two papers in separate transparent boxes and felt a sigh of relief and comfort.
During the whole process, not a single person asked me, pressurised me or threatened me to vote for someone specifically. For ME, the process was completely transparent (yeah, that’s for me only!).
I witnessed a very professional display of work ethics as well when a potential voter came up to the staff and found that his name wasn’t in the list because he didn’t register. He asked if he could vote in any case rather maliciously. The EC staff categorically denied it saying “if your name isn’t there, it is simple impossible for you to vote and you may leave now.” Again, this helped me to feel more confident about the process.
It is over for now, but the excitement will surely return when the results start flowing in. Overall, casting my vote for the first has been a satiating and cheering experience.
After contemplating an identity online for a few weeks now I finally got my domain registered (www.anasimtiaz.com) and also bought a new hosting package to go along with it from Unique Links. With my extremely limited knowledge of web maintenance I’ve taken up the task of transferring my blog from the current host to the new one. And it surely looks a daunting task. I’m still discovering the various options in the cPanel that I have as the administrator and I’m quite impressed and, at the same time, bewildered by the simplicity of the administrator panel. I do hope to get this mess sorted out in a couple of days and then search for a new template as well. Meanwhile, I anticipate tough times ahead and some useful learning. But I’m still elated to have my identity online.
Welcome to the web presence of Anas Imtiaz. These pages are the dump yard of most of my erratic and geeky thoughts. To know more about ME or this website please visit the ABOUT page.
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