Zenning!

Yay! I made two achievements on StackOverflow.com with my first two answers there. One, I earned a “Teacher” badge for Active site similar to CSS Zen Garden? And two, I unlocked a few privileges that come with earning points there.

By earning a reputation of 21, I can now participate in meta, got new user restrictions removed (can post images, post more than one hyperlink in a question or answer, post any hyperlinks in my profile, contribute answers to protected questions, ask or answer questions too rapidly), create wiki posts, vote up (this is the privilege for which I actually started answering in the hope to earn enough reputation to vote the good answers up), flag posts, and talk in chat.So, now that I have started to rock the StackOverflow’s Q&A space for programmers (w00t), you can keep a tab on me there through my StackOverflow profile.

[Me happy at 4:30 am Pakistan time. w00t!]

When it comes to blogging, one of the things that I have tried to follow – very successfully – is that I shouldn’t post more than once on my blog in a day. May be ‘coz I want just one post of mine to bask in the limelight that day.

So, if I have more topics to write about, I say to myself … “hmmm I will do that tomorrow, or day after”. But, no prize for guessing, the next blog post arrives weeks or months later.

A few of us probably have this fear that we shouldn’t do more at any one point in time; but rather divide it over time. We do this probably so that we don’t overwhelm people, that they don’t yell out “enough!”

But is this how it should be? Should we really limit ourselves so that we don’t overwhelm other people?

I don’t know about the rest, but I certainly have to disagree with this, and I have to stop limiting myself!

So from now on, I’ll blog, as much in a day or week or month … just whenever I want to. No more limits!

It’s been some time since I blogged. I am running so short of time nowadays. Friends feel ignored; my projects are pending; almost no time for socializing. The main reason of my busyness is a project called yellO that I have been part of since March ‘08 (full-time since August ‘08). This unique and one-of-its-kind portal (and magazine) of local services in Pakistan is finally ready for show time!

It’s something big!

We have been working on yellO for almost an year now. It’s been an exhilarating experience for me to be part of the development, design and strategy formation processes of one of the most authentic and superb piece of web application/portal to surface from this part of the world.

We had tough days. We had boring days. We had frustrating days. We had days on which we almost thought to give up on it since we were too bored working on the same thing everyday for so many months! But now that yellO’s development is complete (for launch) and it’s all ready to go live, I am really satisfied with the outcome. And quite excited too!

The Visionary

I remember that I was a bit reluctant when Samir – the visionary behind yellO – had asked me to join team yellO. I had other offers too at that time and they were offering better package than what I was being offered for yellO. But in the end, it was Samir’s passion and fervor, and his desire to bring positive change in the world – the same ideals that I myself follow – that sealed my decision in favor of yellO.

The Team

The most important component in realizing a vision is the team that is responsible for turning an idea into reality. And the team assembled for yellO had all the characteristics of a winning team!

Adeel, the lead developer, and Saad, the lead designer, have both remained an indispensable asset for yellO. Zulfiqar has been an amazing artist and (print) designer. Aamir has been great at handling graphics and publishing stuff. Mudassir is new but he’s learning to walk the tight rope of the Linux administration world well. Young Shahrukh is intelligent and full of curiosity, and he is a great asset for the community building part of yellO. In the past, Ali Raza, Asim, Waleed and Faraz have worked for some time on yellO before parting in search of other opportunities.

As for me myself, I have been responsible for handling all the stakeholders, mentioned above; making sure that we followed the timelines and that everyone was working in congruency. Also, I tend to the strategic aspect of yellO as, officially, I am the Strategy Director for yellO.

All in all it has been a great fun and an exciting experience building a major venture like yellO.

Join yellO today and start adding and reviewing interesting places on the map.

So I have finally started Twittering.

For those who have been living under a rock since the past year or so, Twitter is a site that makes it easy to let the world know what you\’re doing, and see what other people are up to in a fun and social way. Think of it as micro-mini-blogging.

So go on, follow me on Twitter .

So, I have finally inaugurated my website by setting up this blog. There are lots of things that I have felt like sharing with the world. I have been sharing them with a pseudo name – an Internet nick name – on other blogs that I setup, and now defunct, elsewhere. But, it was about time that I started writing and publishing my stuff with my real name.

I wanted to give all my writings, my musings, my creative endeavors, my opinions and my rants, a tangible identity … an identity of a real person.

So here it is – Zenning my way out!

I guess writing about yourself can be described as an art in itself. How do you portray yourself to others? How do you put yourself in words, pointing out the most obvious and the most subtle of characterstics that you possess.

For now I would like to be brief; will build up on this about me in the eras to come.

I am a geek with an entrepreneurial mindset. I am a musician with a knack for singing. I have big aspirations, not just for myself but for everyone. My people. My country. The humans at large.

I firmly believe in humanity and I practice it, everyday. I may not be any messiah but I am a human no less.

To know me is to love me. And those who don\’t love me, don\’t know me. I am a jack of all trades, and then master of some.

I believe in love. Love is the basis on which this world was created.

And I believe that knowledge is power, so the quest to acquire knowledge is never-ending for me.

Passion flows through my veins, invigorating my soul, driving me in the fast lane of life.

• Age: 28
• Gender: Male
• Astrological Sign: Taurus
• Zodiac Year: Monkey
• Industry: Technology
• Location: Pakistan

Technology and Web Stuff I am into

• Social Media
• Drupal
• Wordpress
• Django
• PHP
• Python
• MySQL
• Photoshop

Interests

• Technology
• Music
• Photography
• Movies
• Cricket
• Love
• Passion

Favorite Movies

• Dil Se
• Rang De Basanti
• Gia
• The Matrix
• Lord of the Rings Trilogy
• Ijazat
• Jab We Met
• Italian Job
• Kal Ho Naa Ho
• Black
• Cruel Intentions
• Finding Nemo
• The Butterfly Effect
• Socha Na Tha
• Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II
• Karam
• Dil Chahta Hai
• Parinda

Favorite Music

• Junaid Jamshed
• Vital Signs
• Atif Aslam
• Savage Garden
• Bryan Adams
• Entity Pardigm (EP)
• Jal
• Call

Favorite Books

• The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
• Love Story by Eric Seagal
• Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
• Straight from the Gut by Jack Welch
• Answers by Jack Welch

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