Author Archives: Sawant Shah

Extreme Tracking Stops Sales in Pakistan?

Today, I headed to Extreme Tracking to get a stats tracker for this blog of mine. Yes, I am one of those who can never have enough of stats; I want more!

I have been an Extreme Tracking user since almost a decade now (no I am not that old, I just started out young on the web).

But as I headed for registration, I got this message:

Extreme Tracking: Unfortunately we closed down our sales in Pakistan

Unfortunately we closed down our sales in Pakistan.

Say what!? 😐

Since when did that happen? And why would an online firm, that deals with tracking website stats and provides free tracking services, would block its ‘sales’ in any country?

It’s obvious that they blocked me from registering by tracking my IP address. I thought about emailing them and asking why they have blocked users from Pakistan to register for an Extreme Tracker? But first, I wanted to register, and so I did … by using a proxy server. 😉

Once I passed their ‘IP’ check and entered their registration page, look what I found:

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Wow! Now here, they not only have given ‘Islamabad’ as a choice in city selection, but I was also able successfully signup by choosing ‘Islamabad’, without getting told that I am not allowed or something.

The question remains though that why have they blocked Pakistani users from getting a website tracker with them?

Is it because they are a Netherlands based firm (as seen from their given address in the first screenshot), and thus the cartoon controversy and the movie on Islam controversy, is playing a part here?

Aah … that’s probably it! Or am I just being paranoid?

Command Prompt for Your Website

Right when you thought that command prompts were a thing of the past for normal computer users, here comes PodiPodi that adds another dimension to user interactivity on websites; through command-prompt-esque interaction on websites!

Here’s the official description from the site:

PodiPodi is an experimental project in Interaction Design born with the aim to give web designers a way to enhance their websites with two new levels of interaction:

  1. an additional fast and easy to use user interface for your visitors, inspired by Enso from Humanized Inc.
  2. a bunch of new useful services for your website

All you have to do is Press Shift+Space on a PodiPodi-enabled website!

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And lo and behold, a command-prompt-esque interface will pop up (dark gray with a blinking cursor) on the top portion of the visible website area:

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Now go on and type commands to interact with the site. Type help and you will get a list of the supported commands:

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PodiPodi is all JQuery based. So it will fit into any site.

It’s an interesting concept. Although, initially, I couldn’t see any point in providing such type of interactivity on a website, unless nostalgic is what they want the visitors to feel. But looking at it from another angle, websites are not really keyboard-enabled.

Unless we are filling out a web form or have no problem in tabbing our way through, mouse is generally the only way that we interact with websites.

But the concept of PodiPodi will provide keyboard-enabled navigation of websites.

Now that’s cool! I am sure that more such interaction concepts are going to pop up soon.

Go PodiPodi.

Samad Khurram: The Pakistani Student who Refused to Accept Harvard Scholarship

The news, and subsequently the Pakistani blogosphere, was abuzz during the last week over a Pakistani student’s refusal to accept Harvard Scholarship from the US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne W. Patterson in an award distribution ceremony in Islamabad.

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The US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne W. Patterson was the Chief Guest on the occasion where this incident happened and she was made to face big embarrassment when the whole hall echoed with a loud applause for the student over his decision.

Samad refused the award as a protest on the recent cross border attack by Americans in Mohmand Agency, which resulted in the death of 20 Pakistani soldiers and still many more are missing.

Ms. Patterson and other U.S.embassy officials were shocked and embarrassed when Samad walked to the stage to receive his award but then announced he was refusing the honor to protest the unprovoked American violation of Pakistani airspace and the murder of innocent Pakistanis.

A shaken Ms. Patterson smiled sheepishly and tried to make the best out of an embarrassing moment.

I highly commend what Samad did. Yes, he may still be in Harvard and still getting the scholarship, but he was at least able to bring this incident into the limelight.

Here are a few more links from around the blogosphere:

… Because what Samad has done is something that our politicians don’t have the guts to do in a million years! He stood strong and determined and in his own way snubbed the representative of the United States, calling their recent attack on Pakistani soil as that of a coward.

— The WeCite Blog

Photoshop Pen Tool Basics

I have never been able to grasp how the Pen Tool in Photoshop (and other softwares like Illustrator and Flash) works.

But now I do.

I followed this excellent and simple tutorial by David Legett at Tutorial9 website.

After learning the basics of handling the pen, I was able to create the following two shapes with the pen tool:

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The cloud shape is a trace from Tutorial9’s logo.

Follow the Tutorial: Pen Tool Basics – Custom Shapes

Bland and Insipid Firefox 3 RC1 Experience

Upgrade to Firefox 3 Release Candidate 1 was not as smooth or satisfying as I would have expected it to be. Many of the extensions I use were marked as incompatible and there were no updates available to them for Firefox 3 either.

Firefox 3: Incompatible Extensionsfirefox

The following extensions (I use) are as yet incompatible with this new version of Firefox:

The ones that are most essential to my Firefox experience are PicLens and Tab Mix Plus. Other extensions that came in handy now and then are del.icio.us Buttons, Firebug, MeasureIt, Remove It Permanently, Screen Grab! and Web Developer.

Firefox 3: Working Extensions

The extensions that are compatible and working (after updates) are:

StumbleUpon‘s extension is not working perfectly though, as the images displayed in Google search for rating and other stuff appear broken.

Firefox 3 Default Theme: So Bland!

The theme that I had grown used to, iPox, became an outcast, and I had to settle with the bland default Vista theme of FF 3!

There are only a couple of themes available for Firefox 3; none of them suit me. I ended up applying a theme that merely contained icons, though much better ones than the ones available in the default theme for Vista – Azerty III.

Not Feeling at Home

Although I loved the new features, especially live searches through your bookmarks and history as you type in the address bar, the add to bookmarks, site info, and bookmarks being tag enabled (awesome!), but I didn’t feel at home!

With the bland theme and incompatible extensions, this didn’t seem like the Firefox I had become used to.

I wanted my money back! My Firefox 2 back!

The Little Fiasco: Getting Back to Firefox 2

I had made no backups of any sorts (assumed, wrongfully, that everything would go smoothly), and having overwritten the existing installation of Firefox 2, there was no way to use Firefox 2 but to reinstall it … over Firefox 3!

After reinstalling it, Firefox 2 refused to start up! Just great!

Installed Firefox 3 back, which, thankfully, worked.

Hanging on to Firefox 3 RC1

For now, I have adjusted myself with the bland Firefox 3, hoping and checking for extension and theme updates every now and then.

I am sure most developers are already updating their extensions and themes for Firefox 3. So let’s wait for the updates and the final version to enjoy this vastly improved, feature-packed version of Firefox!

Firefox 3 Arriving Soon: the First Release Candidate

It has not even been two years since the arrival of Firefox 2, the version of the open source browser that built up on the success of the first Firefox version (and 1.5) by further denting its way into the desktop browser market share, taking Internet Explorer head-on.

With recent reports of Firefox gaining 29 percent browser market share in Europe, even nearly 50 percent in parts of Europe, Firefox version 2 proved its mettle as a stable browser that didn’t let you – neither the user nor the developer – down.

Mozilla FirefoxNow make way for Firefox 3!

The good folks at Mozilla have released the first Release Candidate of Firefox 3 to the public.

It looks pretty solid. If you, like me, love getting your hands dirty (and your computer for that matter) before others, then download Firefox 3 RC1.

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Download Firefox 3 Release Candidate 1

Caution: With my initial experience of installing Firefox 3 RC 1, it is not going to be such a smooth ride as far as the extensions and themes are concerned, so be ready for that. More on it in my next post.

Humility: First step to Greatness

Humility and being humble are the traits of a remarkable human. I was probably born with them, as I believe that I have these traits engraved in me since my childhood. Thanks to Allah, and specially my humble parents.

But being born with something doesn’t make you great or remarkable. For you are not born great, but you strive for and achieve greatness with your endeavors. One has to hone the traits – one’s strengths. Nurture them. One has to nurture them continuously, for their entire life.

Greatness, just like perfection, is a journey, not a destination.

Accept disgrace willingly…
Accept being unimportant…
Surrender yourself humbly; then you can be trusted to care for all things.
Love the world as your own self; then you can truly care for all things.

– Taoism

One of the most essential steps on becoming humble and letting humility take root in you is to kill your ego.

Jawwad Farid, a successful entrepreneur in the budding entrepreneurial culture of Pakistan, from Alchemy has posted an excellent write-up on his blog on how killing your ego will make your life saner, your clients happier, business prosper, and how it would keep you from turning red, white or blue.

Another excellent write-up, a thorough analysis on humility, that I found: I’m glad that I’m a nobody: A positive psychology of humility by Dr. Paul T. P. Wong. An excerpt is in order:

Is humility practical?

How do we practice the virtue of humility in such a competitive, winner-take-all world? We can all agree that humility is an admirable quality in others, because we feel safe and comfortable around people who are meek and humble. But when it comes to ourselves, we may consider humility a hindrance to success and a by-product of failure.

How can anyone achieve success without ambition and a competitive spirit? Who does not feel elated and proud after accomplishing something great? Humility appears to be a foreign concept in a capitalist economy.

Perhaps, humility seems to make sense only when we find ourselves soundly defeated. Then, we can at least claim that we have learned the important virtue of humility, which is sorely lacking in others. Such self-consolation gives us the needed reprieve, until we are ready to get back on our feet to fight yet another battle.

Exactly. These few lines are what confuse me about my aspirations and my humbleness. But Wong clarifies the confusions quite amicably, and links it to being beneficial to mental health, social relationships, leadership, world peace and human progress.

Greatness is a journey. Humility its first step. Take it.

The Weirdest Text Message I Received

That day I got this really odd SMS text message from an unknown number. It was by far the weirdest message that I have ever received.

First, the original message (in Urdu’s sms-short-hand version), verbatim:

Apjo koi bi ho plz muje 10rpe is No03015073752pe snd kr den agr ap ALLAH or RASOL PAK pe IMAN rkhte ho tu mera yken kro m hospital m buht museebat m hon plz 10rpe

Now in plain, understandable Urdu:

Aap jo koi bhi please mujhe 10 rupay is no 03015073752 pe send kar dein agar aap Allah aur Rasool Pak pe iman rakhte ho to mera yakeen karo mein hospital mein bohut museebat mein hoon please 10 rupay

Finally, the translated version in English:

Whoever you are please send me 10 rupees on this number 03015073752 if you believe (have faith) in Allah and the Prophet Muhammad then believe me i am in a really bad situation at the hospital please 10 rupees

It was quite weird and odd, yet interesting, because the way the message begins “aap jo koi bhi ho…” makes it seem as if the guy/gal just punched in random numbers, which he/she miraculously got right and that number was real, working, and mine! Haah!

Amusing because someone would actually send some random unknown number a text message that would cost them 1-2 rupees (and they must have spammed their message to a number of mobile numbers than just mine) to ask for 10 rupees of credit/balance. Economically speaking, it would have required at least one fifth of the receivers (depending on the sender’s connection and the receiver’s as well) to send him 10 rupees to make it to break-even!

So how many would have believed that message and sent him 10 rupees? Not even 5% I believe!

Also, it sounded like modern style of begging … by sending text message over the cell phone! Wow!

Above all, if one is in a real bad situation in the hospital, sending SMS to a stranger on an unknown random number, asking for 10 rupees of credit/balance is the most absurd idea in the world of absurd ideas.