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A. Sajjad Zaidi's Blog (10 unread)

PTCL IPTV and Broadband

Posted: August 13th, 2008, 4:14pm BST

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Some say it is the world's biggest telco. Others agree that even if it isn't, it definitely is Pakistan's biggest. Also the largest Internet Service Provider, PTCL (or Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited) has come a long way from the days when it was an entirely government-owned, bureaucratic monolith.

Getting a phone line installed is usually a matter of a couple of days. Subscribing to additional services is as simple as calling the helpline and asking for it. No more hassles of dealing with multiple bills or rude technical staff. Prices have come down to reasonable levels and we are now starting to see services that nobody even dreamed of before.

PTCL is transforming itself in such a way that the whole country's technology roadmap is looking very bright. Like the price ..... Read more
Live from ITCN

Posted: August 12th, 2008, 8:51pm BST

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This is my second day at ITCN 2008 and overall, it has been a better than expected experience. The event is well-organized, there are so many types and sizes of companies participating and some of them have organized fun things such as lucky draws, games and giveaways.

The whole thing feels a lot like such events..... Read more
In Karachi for ITCN Asia

Posted: August 11th, 2008, 5:38am BST

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Hopped on a flight to Karachi on Sunday and will be attending this years ITCN Asia, the biggest annual technology event in Pakistan. This will be my first time attending ITCN so am not sure how it will compare to such events held in other countries. There is an interesting lineup of speakers at the conferences ..... Read more
888

Posted: August 8th, 2008, 9:38am BST

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Today is 8th of August, 2008, or 08.08.08 for short. Many people aren't familiar with the significance of this figure, but eight (8) is auspicious for the Chinese and is associated with wealth and prosperity. 888 is considered extremely lucky and it is why a number of events are set to coincide with this date.

The biggest event has to be the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics. People are scheduling their weddings on this day and I'm sure many would have tried to arrange the births of their children on this very day. Happy birthday to my friend Shahzad. Dude, you should have been in China right now instead of in Lahore.

On this day, the third installment of the "Mummy" movie franchise, The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, is being released around the world. Fortunately, this includes Pakistan and having a fascination with Chinese history (will try not to be too ..... Read more
Plastic - the scum of the earth

Posted: August 7th, 2008, 4:21pm BST

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Plastic is all around us. A life without plastic seems unthinkable for people from all walks of life and regardless of their level of prosperity. Without plastic, we wouldn't have modern cars or mobile communications or pretty much anything that uses an electronic circuit. Clothing, food packaging, sports; you ..... Read more
Santa Singh and the PM

Posted: August 7th, 2008, 3:09pm BST

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Was reading the details of the PM's recent visit to the US and it somehow kept reminding me of the Pope vs Santa Singh debate, though admittedly, the latter seemed to make more sense. I don't know whether to laugh or to cry.

..... Read more
The latest Google rival is Cuil

Posted: July 29th, 2008, 2:37pm BST

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Google may still be the king when it comes to search, but it doesn't mean that it will stay there forever. Cuil (pronounced "cool') is the latest rival search engine that is looking to conquer the search arena.

According to the BBC article, it is the brainchild of ex-Googlers and at over 120 billion pages, claims..... Read more
Say no to terrorism petition

Posted: July 28th, 2008, 9:49pm BST

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Yeh Hum Naheen (literally meaning "this isn't us") is a site that aims to condemn terrorism and prove that it has no place in Pakistan's society.

The stats so far are really impressive, with claims of 25 Million people already having signed (or condemned) it (though by what means, I'm not sure). Signup now and be..... Read more
Social aggregator FriendFeed

Posted: July 22nd, 2008, 3:57pm BST

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I haven't had a chance to check out so many recent phenomenon, such as Twitter, but there's been a lot of buzz lately about friendfeed and I easily got started with it. It was just so very simple and could be the social networking and blogging consolidator I always needed. For now, I've just added my blog on it ..... Read more
Guitarinity in Islamabad

Posted: July 15th, 2008, 1:30am BST

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This weekend, I got a chance to attend probably my first real rock concert (in Pakistan at least). Held at the auditorium of the Pakistan National Council of the Arts, it featured some of the finest guitarists and progressive rock artists that this country has produced.

Though most of the pieces were originals, ..... Read more