The Word of mAn[S]o0r

Its been quite some time since i posted an entry.. been busy in other things of life.. getting work to do, and preparing to write my masters thesis.. but thats not wht this post is about..

Its about one of my favourite shows on TV, The Apprentice.. more specifically, The Apprentice UK.

I previously posted an entry on the first episode that i watched, and the gist of it was.. girls using sex power to win... which they did ofcourse ! (what a disadvantage to men !!)

This post will cover the next four episodes.. and what i thought after watching each of them.

So here goes,

Episode 2:
The task: Create a themed calendar to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital.
One team nailed the idea for creating a calender with pictures of children in various roles e.g. policeman, carpenter etc, the other went with cats and Nargis got fired.


Episode 3:
The task: Negotiate and buy 12 items on Sir Alans list
Both teams went out and brainstormed on how to go about buying the items. The trick being, they cannot buy anything at the market price. The boys quickly decided and left as soon as could to go scout the market, the girls spent 4 hours just brainstorming. In the end, the boys team got all 12 items on Sir Alans list, just in time to make it back to the board room at 6. The girls team, left behind one item... and even though they negotiated well, lost by a few pounds difference.
In the board room, Karen got canned for having poor time management skills as she was supposed to have been responsible for ensuring the last item on the list got bought.

The rest, i'll be posting later.


Technorati Tags: apprentice, uk, tv show, episode recap

I came across this blog by a fellow Paksitani blogger Ramla. A... Maker, not taker and it made me want to write this piece.

Every action we take in our lives does in some manner, affect our future. Yet, it is our future which has been written for us and which we will attain no matter what. The contradiction presents itself, what do we do today ? If we are to get tomorrow what is written for us, will anything we do change it ? And if we do today to attain what we want tomorrow, is tomorrow actually ever written for us ?

A friend and mentor sometime back answered this question in an interesting way... we will eventually get what is written for us, but our actions will determine which path, out of the myriad of paths available to us, will take us there. That it'll make the journey either worthwhile, or make it hell.

But even then, despair does set in... as to the uncertainity of the future.... the dreaded *what if* which raises its ugly head everytime we come at the crossroads and are required to make a decision. What if what is written for us is not in our favour ? What if pain lies ahead ? What if i screw up getting there ? Being human, looking at the optimistic side of life isnt usually what we can do... especially if you get brought up in the *real world* and see the pain and misery out there....

This goes on n on.. but the question still remains... what do we do ? Do we live in past? Do we try to *make* a future.. or do we just enjoy the present...

This is where the blog entry got 2 me...

It occurred to me that there are only two kinds of persons in action:
makers, and takers. A reader or observer of future is just a glorified
role for a taker of a future created by others. If future is what I am
interested in, I would rather be the one to create the future than the
one to take in the name of reading and anticipating it.

and

But the beauty is, if we do the present, we create the future. I do not
wish to stand by on the banks of Time and watch it flow by. If I
believe in the worth of experience – which I passionately do – I will
want to dwell in Time. Make the present, and let the future become from
it.

It made me realize once again, that its the present i should be worried about, not the past nor future.... kinda puts it in perspective..... now lets end this entry by this very beautiful line from Ramla....

I recieved this through email from one of the lists im on. It has really made me, and quite a few other people of the forum, think over where excatly we are heading as a nation....

Im pasting the email as it is at the end, suffice to say, the author raises a few very interesting points.

• Why qumee(national) dress is not considered as formal dress while we see in our national assembly and in the govt. sector that people wear “Qomee(national) Dress” with waste-coat as their formal dress. Does this means that are they not working efficiently?
• What is the definition of formal dress and who set this definition? pent shirt and tie really means a formal dress? And is it necessary for every culture ad every nation to adopt this definition?
• Can’t it be set according to culture of that nation as the west has set it according to their culture? we really think that by following the west culture and impose it to our working environment will really improve the quality of work and efficiency?
• In the west women also wear this dress while working in offices, does it means that we should also adopt this policy?

Another member of the forum summarized the email into the following issue's...

• Our National (or religious) Identity Crisis (forgetting our history)
• What is a professional dress?
• In organization where dress in important (probably marketing) and where productivity and creativity is important
• Following west blindly (we can adopt good things from anybody)

So in the future, i'll also be posting things related to this issue on the blog, as much sense as i can make out from it anyway. If you have anything to say, please leave a comment !

An Issue which should be discussed positively night my friend Nida came to my home with her parents. She was looking depressed.I knew Nida’s family from a long time. She belongs to a well educated family. She has two sisters and one elder brother. She is studying medical and her two sisters are in school age. Her father is a professor in a govt. university.I asked her if she is O.K. She told me that her brother was terminated from his job today. Why what was the reason? I asked her surprisingly, as I knew that her brother was working in a very good company and he is not only very qualified but very hard worker. She replied that her brother is religious and wears qameez shalwar. I became confused as I did not understand why she was saying this. She continued to saying, his office management decided and ordered that every employee must be wearing pent-shirt with tie and even they are not allowing him to wear qameez shalwar on Fridays. But why, what is the reason for this change in dress, I asked her. She took a deep breath and said that his office management is saying that the environment must be looking professional and the efficiency and quality of work can be achieved by wearing pent shirt and tie. added my knowledge by saying that in many organizations pent shirt is must and considered as a formal dress where “qumee-dress” is not.Many applicant who avoid wearing this type of dress are rejected in interviews even they have the sound knowledge and capable to do that job. Some times existing employees are warned and sent back to home if the come without the tie or pent. on Fridays, when a person wants to perform his religious practices comfortably, it is not allowed to wear. On the other hand on Saturdays relaxation is given that people can wear jeans but still not shalwar qameez. was keep asking me questions which I was not able to give the answers. She was questioning …. we really want to improve the quality of work or we are in great influence of the west? an applicant wears a “Qomee formal dress” should he be rejected only because of this issue? jeans but not “Qomee Dress” Is not an act of extremism? qumee dress is not considered as formal dress while we see in our national assembly and in the govt. sector that people wear “Qomee Dress” with waste-coat as their formal dress. Does this means that are they not working efficiently? is the definition of formal dress and who set this definition? pent shirt and tie really means a formal dress? And is it necessary for every culture ad every nation to adopt this definition? it be set according to culture of that nation as the west has set it according to their culture? we really think that by following the west culture and impose it to our working environment will really improve the quality of work and efficiency? the west women also wear this dress while working in offices, does it means that we should also adopt this policy? she left my home but leaving confusion in my mind. Can any body give the answers of the above questions but it should not be taken against of any person/company as these are the points which should be raised and discussed positively.

Technorati Tags: national crisis, national dress, identity crisis, issue, formal dress, dress code

By education, im a Masters Student in Software Engineering. As a requirement for my degree i have to submit a masters thesis on any chosen topic of my choice in the field.

Brimming with the usual (i read about it before) optimism of the newly inducted researcher of wanting to change the world... i forged ahead and mapped out what i wanted to do. With no clear guidance, and only the guideline to 'select a topic', i thought to myself.. whats the hottest thing in the industry today.. answer... PROCESS IMPROVEMENT. Its a buzz word, paired with more acronyms such as ISO and SW-CMM and CMMI, its the ultimate way to attain the students dream ! A big paycheck ! The next step.. choose a supervisor. One of the biggest problems in this domain was.. there arent any good supervisors to choose from ! Finally i settled on a guy who taught us a course in SQA and Testing, who, as i've come to learn subsequently, is a gem of a guy!

I read a little on the topic, googled it a lot, and couldnt find anything useful as such, so with what little confidence i had, took the first step. Gave my thesis topic a catchy name. This name, was immediately shot down by both my Head of the Department and my supervisor.
So much for confidence ! then after a series of modifications, my topic was finally ready.... it read "An empirical study of Software Process Initiatives undertaken by Pakistani Software Development organizations" . NOT BAD ! note how i incorporated the name of my country into the title ! tells you a lot about my patriotism.. doesnt it ! (but thats another story for another day). Haha !

Then... from the university came guidelines to submit a thesis plan.. and the *dreaded* LITERATURE SEARCH ! This where most of my woes arise from ! i thought, given my earlier experiences, that much data was not available on the topic.... oh how naive of me ! I just wasnt looking in the right places ! One day, having decided to alteast start up initially on literature search, i opened up google, and resolved to find atleast 5 to 10 papers which coincide with my research topic.......... and lo behold ! just like opening up pandora's box or was it aladin's cave??... ! i stumbled upon the secrets of searching for articles on google. Somehow, i was returned with almost 50 *relevant* papers ! and i thought to myself.. i hit the damn JACKPOT !! muhahahah (evil laugh).

Then started going through them.. and found out.. there's a HELL LOT of work done on the topic of my choice!. So much for my aspirations of making a breakthrough or even a small ripple in the world of s/w engg. research ! Oh well.. atleast now i'll know what to search for. right ? WRONG !!!!! from what i've read so far... i've got to modify (further still) both my topic and research methodologies!

Came across this line earlier (dont know where from though), when reading up on how to get a phd... "a student is ready for a phd, when they realize after reading and studying up on their subject of choice a long time, how little they know about the subject they're researching on". By that definition...... im ready for my PhD now !!!

I'll be posting more and more updates whenever i feel as if i've hit a brick wall or gone through it for that matter !


Technorati Tags: research, empirical software engineering, thesis, literature search

I got this from Karachi Metroblogs....

Concern for Children Trust is hosting a small Soccer Match Fundraiser this Friday, March 17 from 6:30-9 p.m. at the DHA Football Stadium. Tickets are just 200 Rupees. Teams of students from KGS, KAS, the Lyceum and Southshore will play in the match. Proceeds from this event will go towards hiring additional doctors for the Mohammadi "Machar" Colony Healthcare Project.
Tickets for the event may be purchased from CFC staff, students of the schools participating or at the gate on the date of the match. Please come out, bring your family and friends and help us raise funds and awareness for the people of Machar Colony.

And posted this there as well...

I'd like to post about another event being held on the 18th of March at DHA Greenwich cricket stadium. Its a cricket tournament being conducted by Rotaract Club of Karachi Sunset Millenium. Tickets are Rs.100. The proceeds will go towards the Rotaract Umeed-e-Seher program, for rehabilitation of Earthquake victims. (Yes, some organizations here, like Rotaract, havent forgotten the plight of the victims of 8th October). To find out more about Rotaract Clubs, visit www.rotaract3270.org or Homepage of Rotaract Metropolitan

The participating teams will be of
1. KGS
1. Lyceum
2. Southsore
3. L'ecole


Technorati Tags: rotaract, karachi, fundraiser, cricket, football, rotaract metropolitan

I keep on going on and on about always finding a job which you like,and which you can excel in... i recently found out that these two are mutually exclusive.

I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday, and he was telling me about his workplace. Although he is good at what he does (a software engineer by profression), he's not happy at his job. Why? There were many reasons, and i felt like i should dissect them one by one.

The first and foremost was the job environment.. From what he tells me, its like a prison. They keep track of each and every minute of what their employee's do, to the extent that each employee's screen is captured every 30 seconds and analyzed for 'unauthorized' work. While from an employer's point of view, thats all very good and dandy, it does put undue pressure on the employee. Many employer's fail to understand the concept of providing a trusting environment in their organizations, and promote their mistrust on the employee's. The result ? major attrition and a not-interested workforce.

There are many pro's and con's to this issue as well, the first and foremost being, many employee's tend to spend a lot of their time doing non essential work, rather than being productive, which leads to the management to put a tighter control on them. This leads to a vicious cycle, where employee's dont put their hearts in their work, and even while they work, they arent productive. Is there a solution? In the opinion of this humble blogger, the main solution is 'trust' and 'empowerment'. A concept quite alien to many employee's but if you manage to read any of the leading business articles on employee morale, keeping and building employee's trust, then you'll see this as the core issue. Another aspect to this solution, is hiring people you can trust in the first place, but they are the ones who charge more for their services, and many employer's arent willing to dish out the extra cash/benefits.

Another issue with my friend was the nature of work. The organization is inherently disorganized, with little to no documentation of any sorts, and people basically work which ever way they please. This may be a good business model for the company at present, but is it long term? Having good and robust processes in an organization can help build up the morale of employee's who then feel as if they know what they have to do. The flip side of this issue, having processes which are too beauracratic! which promotes a lot of red tape within the organizational boundaries and limits people and their creativity. Again.. is there a solution? Yes there is. Many industry models of best practices are aimed at solving these situations, and what most of them promote is.. ownership. Whoever runs the process should own it, both the good and the bad things about it. They promote the good within their functions and try to re-write/restructure the bad ones, so that they get weeded out. Its the way to evolve yourself into a highly productive team. This also makes the processes organic, changing with time, rather than static, and makes people want to follow them. Ofcourse, having good results from a process is a plus.

This brings me back to my original question.. should you like/love your job ? My recommendation to my friend, increase your quality of life (in terms of hapiness and contentment). Jobs come and go, but what they make the other parts of your life is what counts. A good job can help you lead a balanced life, with due time given to your own personal development, family needs and friends. A bad one can rob you of all these pleasures of life and give you headache's, miseries and stress. You decide !

In my tribute to World Womans Day i thought i'd post this. I came across this article recently, and thought it would interest a dear friend of mine. She just started working in the IT field, and from what i can see so far... this article really suits her. So i thought i'd share it with the rest of the world too. This lead me to read this article here of what women want in IT.

Basically, it outlines why there are so little women in IT field in Austrailia. I thought i'd dabble on it with my (limited) knowledge of women in IT in Pakistan.

From the software houses i've seen so far, and from the women studying in IT i meet, the results agree with Ella's article. Many think IT is still just programming (and they're not wrong.. in many places it still is) and dont have any clue as to what other careers they have in the field. Nowadays though, many of my female friends are joining as QA engineer's at various places, so atleast thats a viable career.

On the otherside, many software houses here do work ungodly hours... working a 12 hour day is normal.. and anything less seems like being unproductive. Many girls here do have restrictions as to how long they can stay out, so thats another factor. Then comes the fact that many girls just study in IT, so that they have a Bachelors degree and can get married (sorry girls, but there are a lot of you out there ! you know who you are !!!!!). First it used to be bachelors in arts or philosophy, medicine or even phsycohology... now its IT and management. Then, theres the issue of the exclusive "boys club"... which seemingly plots against the girls to get them fired... and lastly.. the issue of sexual harrasment in the work place. In Pakistan, i havent seen much 'against' it, while a lot of offices do seem to condone it (under wraps ofcourse) especially with the secretarial staff.

This reminds me to this talk show on Hum TV called Maachis. Its basically a local version of Jerry Springer, Muary and the like (but focus more on actual issues rather than 'whos the daddy?' and 'who stole whos boyfriend'. And one of the issues was a secretary getting fired because she wouldnt accept her bosses 'gifts', while another one prospering cuz she would accept rides, gifts and treats. What was disturbing was the attitude of the new female secretary's mother.... "if thats what it takes to have a job, then i tell my daughter to go along with it." !!! Another off topic point but too interesting not to make.


Technorati Tags: women in IT, jobs, pakistan, karachi

Its interesting the topics you come with at lunch time.. if you have the right group. Im fortunate enough to be with people who understand the issue's of life, rather than just talking mindlessly about who was the better cricketer ! (never could understand that one..)

Anyway, today's topic was particularly interesting..... We started off with talking about Karachi, and all the new projects being planned in the city, from the Textile City, Education City to Offshore Financial District to KPT's new Port Fountain, proposed Tower and Deep Draft Berths (essentially a new port).... and now.. from what i read here... a propsed UBL Tower (Pic 2, Pic 3, Pic 4), wow ! there's a lot of activity going on here !!! but we're drifting off topic..

The topic was... 'whos responsibiltiy is it'. It started with the usual discussion trail whenever developments are being discussed, that money should be spent on social projects etc. We eventually started talkin about why do we have all the evils, and two points came up.. rather, two thought processes of much of the public here..

1. Its someone else's responsiblity...
2. Im not responsible..

Its so sad to see people here always saying that everything should be done............ BY SOMEONE ELSE. Very few people actually step up and say, "i should do it". Take something as simple as throwing garbage out... at garbage in front of their houses (usually thrown by them) people say "the govt. (or some govt. body or the other) should clean it up" ? I say, why not just throw it out yourself into a designated trash dump ? why wait (and consequently complain) for someone else to do it ?

The second point, while seeming a negation of the first, is quite different in concept.. basically its the action of not accepting responsiblity for doing anything... many people get by in their daily lives lying about stuff... small white lies just to save face or something.. e.g. coming to office late... instead of 'i woke up late' they make up excuses about something or the other.. (this is for those examples where people really did wake up late. i accept a lot of people have do have general excuses). Kinda reminds me of murphy's law : If you make an excuse to your boss saying you were late because you had a flat tire.. the next morning.. you WILL have a flat tire. lol ! Murphy's right on target there.

In my view, in order to grow as a society..... first accept responsiblity ! only then will we make it as a difference. And please ! for people who's excuse is "i'll accept responsiblity only if they do" ! its one step at a time.. make yourself better, and people around you will be better as well.

Another colleague summarized this discussion very nicely... In order to succeed as a society.. do onto others as you want others to do onto you.


Technorati Tags: responsiblity, motivational, karachi, kpt, port fountain, educational city, textile city, pakistan, live better

Can you believe ? Its actually GOOD WEATHER today here in Karachi !

We dont really get that much good weather here.. and dat too after a full dust filled day yesterday ! (i'll get to that in a moment). As updated here on Karachi Metroblog, Jang reported light rains fell in karachi last nite.. unfortunately though.. i missed them !

Yesterday was an asthmatic nightmare here.. there was dust EVERYWHERE ! I went to get my car after work, and even though it had been washed TWICE since morning... it still looked as if i had left it at the mechanics for a year or two ! Totally caked in dust. After reaching home.. the situation wasnt much improved.. my whole house had a layer of fine dust surrounding it. Now im pretty used to dust there, since there's a major road/flyover project being done just outside, but yesterday it took the cake ! I was literally feeling i was in at the beach, with how much dust had accumalated b/w my toes ! (unfortunately, without the soothing sights n sounds of the ocean).

Lets hope there's a positive change tonite and i get to enjoy the rain too.


Technorati Tags: weather, rain, dust, beautiful

A blog article on the washington post depicted the condition of us Pakistani's on the Blogspot.. and very rightly so, stated the facts.

Read the article for information on whats going on here... what this post is about are the comments to that article.......

As i feared.. many people have taken the view of Pakistan being an extremist state which does nothing but shoot down the rights of everyone of its citizens.. while at the same time.. its citizens do nothing but join mardassah's and terrorize everyone !

This is what you get when a few people make mayhem and make life for the rest of us miserable... i wonder where was the commotion, when the IRA was detonating bombs in the UK.. or those rebels in Spain... or even the okhlahoma bombings and the school shootings ??? where was the stereotyping then ppl ?? why is it that (white) teenagers are not considered a danger to society as easily as the blacks, or hispanics or (god forbid) muslims ?? the list goes on n on n on....

When will people learn ?!???

After a long time, and i say this from a very overt perspective on the situation, it seemed like the Pak-India arms race might actually thaw out a little...

My relief was short lived, after i read this particular news report... citing that America is ready to sell Advanced weapons to india....

Now im being just a little defensive here, but seeing that they're our neighbours and everything... we would need to defend our borders too, and hence our govt. would see new military spending as a necessary evil...... and drain more money out of the economy.

God help us all.

Hmm.. not very flattering.. is it. I do feel as if im confused.. but then who isnt in nowadays....

Let me know how you do !

This morning... i woke up with an SMS from a dear friend of mine, "Bell me when you get to office, and stay away from I.I. Chundrigar Rd".... At the moment, i couldnt make head or tails out of it.. thinking why would i even be GOING to I.I. Chundigar Rd...... So i went through my morning routine... and before leaving, still groggy.... opened the tele to Geo News.... and thats when it hit me ! All traces of sleep instantly vanishing ! A powerful bomb blast had rocked Karachi, near the Marriot Hotel killing (at the time, atleast 2 and injuring 8, now killings confirmed at 5 and injured to 46). Now thats what i call a rude awakening ! Whats surprising though... i live almost 5 to 6 KM from the blast area... and it didnt even wake me up.

It just kills me when there's something like this happens... now there will be reprecussions ! Which have started already ! im already *not* allowed to go gaming tonite !! damn u bombers !!!!!!! why cant u guys just go play Counter Strike like the rest of us to live out your shooting n killing fantasies.

Below is a report reproduced from Dawn detailing the bombing.

- DAWN - Latest Stories; March 2, 2006

Suicide car bomb in Karachi kills five including US diplomat, 46 hurt KARACHI, March 2, 2006 (AFP) A suicide car bomber rammed into a diplomatic vehicle outside the US consulate in Karachi Thursday, killing an American diplomat and four other people, officials said. Bush at a news conference following talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi said "I have been briefed on the bombings and we have lost at least one US citizen in the bombings, a Foreign Service officer". But he vowed to continue with his visit, saying "terrorists and killers are not going to prevent me from going to Pakistan". A Pakistani security official said on condition of anonymity that a US consulate vehicle "was apparently hit by a suicide car bomber, blowing it into the air". "The car flew through the air and fell on the other side of a seven-foot high wall. One diplomat was killed and two other US diplomats were in it," he said, adding that their Pakistani driver was also killed. The blast ripped through the car park of Marriott Hotel in the city's highest security zone, destroying at least 10 cars, including some from the US mission, and smashing windows. "We are investigating the motives behind the blasts but apparently it coincided with the visit of Bush," said Salahuddin Haider, spokesman for Sindh government. Information minister Sheikh Rashid said the attack was the work of extremists who wanted to create problems in this region. "This attack will not impact the visit of President Bush," he said. Haider said there was only one "powerful" bomb in Thursday's attack and that an exploding petrol tank caused a second, low-intensity blast heard shortly afterwards. A police official said a headless body was found near the damaged wall of the Marriott, adding that the toll could rise. Officials said a paramilitary soldier on security duty was also among the dead and another body was stuck in one of the damaged cars. Hospitals in Karachi said at least 46 people were wounded, including five paramilitary troops and four police. The blast was so powerful that it left a crater three feet deep and 10 feet wide with parts of blazing cars ending up inside the hotel lobby. A number of shops at Sheraton hotel close to the site suffered blast damage and the wall of the Pakistan Navy hospital was also hit. (First Posted 09:05 PST Updated @ 13:10 PST)

I read this news article on Geo TV's online news service, and it has really uplifted my spirits. Ofcourse, being an optimist, i always thought this improvement was there, however, to see it in writing makes me think there's hope for this country yet. The naysayers, on the other hand, will always see problems with these statements, saying either the Govt. has 'played' with the numbers or projecting a very unrealistic status in the country. I say to them... LOOK AROUND YOURSELF ! No doubt poverty is still there, and people are suffering, and basic amenities are still missing in a lot of places... but its getting 'better' ! Things are becoming available... lives are getting better.

One major benefit i saw in the last couple of months was the introduction of Microfinancing banks here. These institutions, giving out small loans to poor people on a very payable schedule and very low interest (sometimes even 0%) to help them get up on their own two feet and support their families. Its initiatives like these which help the country, not just feeding the poor ! but allowing them how to feed themselves.

It is my own opinion, whatever others may say, that this Govt. has really come through for Pakistan ! Like its said on the president's official website, "Pakistan First !"

below is the news article which started me off on this post, complete with credits

GEO Pakistan News - Geo.tv

Poverty rate drops by 6.7 percent: PM Aziz ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said Tuesday country's poverty ratio has lowered by 6.7 percent, whereas unemployment ratio by six percent. Addressing to the National Economic Council here today, the prime minister said inflation rate had increased by 32.1 percent, which has now gone down to 25.4 percent. He said unemployment rate in urban areas has descended from 22.7 percent to 17.2 percent, while that in rural areas decreased from 39 percent to 31.8 percent. During the current fiscal year the rate of economic development was expected to fluctuate between 6 to 7 percent and GDP rate was possible to rise to 7 percent, up from 6.5, he informed. Mr Aziz said under the Vision 2030 energy, water and food security, logistic uplift, strengthening of supply system and attainment of latest technology would be key areas of focus of this government. During last 14 months the Karachi Stock Exchange 100-index has witnessed rise of 57.3 percent. On the other hand, public debt rate in the GDP dropped by 55.7 percent and around 5.5 million jobs were given in different sectors, he highlighted.

Technorati Tags: pakistan, microfinancing, economic uplift, poverty rates