Lyari, Where Soccer is More Than A Sport

Main, Barasti Barish or Woh..!!

Barishoun k mousam mein un ko yaad kartey bohat barsatein guzari hain. Par is baar bat kuch alag ha, kuch bohat khas ha kyoun k Who meray paas ha. Who jiska mujhe saloun se intezaar raha ha. Humey miley abhi kuch zyada arsa nahi howa, nai nai rifaqat ha. Na usne mujhe theak se jana ha, na main ne abhi usey azmaya ha.

Abhi to humarey sath ko pukhta honay main waqt lagey ga, dhairoun mousam ayein gey.. Par ye barsaat.. kiya karuon k is mousam me khud ko rokna mahal ha. Aietbaar karney ko, milney ko, sath honay ko ji chahta ha. Or main ne kuch yehi kiya, barasti barish me usey le k chal para, ye usey janney ka acha moqa tha.

Go k usey barish kuch raas nahi aati, or bhegnay se wo ajeeb si hojati ha. Par meri khatir wo bakhushi barish me janey ko tayar hogai, mano jesay apni zyndagi ji li main ne. Us raat abr toot k baras raha tha, tareeki ghalba paa chuki thi or har taraf jal thal ho raha tha. Hum ne sath safr ka aghaaz kiya, mukamal bheg gaye, barish itni taiz hogayi k humein ek jaga ruk k barish se panah leni pari. Barish bohat teiz thi, hum ek emaarat ko oot me kharay thay, door kahein se halki si roshni uspe parr rahi thi, or uska chera apni tamam tar ra’naiyoun k sath damak raha tha.

Hum kuch dair wahein rukey, phir chal parey, Kuch bhegay, kuch khush howey, kuch shor bhi machaya. Ek dosray pe aeitmaad barh gaya tha, mujhe uspe or usey mujhpe yaqeen tha k hum is mousam me bhi ek dosray ka sath nibhaein gey.

Humara safr apney ekhtitaam ki taraf aaraha tha. Ye waqai both yadgaar lamhaat thay, musam ki shiddat se qata’-nazar hum ek dosray k sath honay pe khush thay. Safr khatm ho chukka tha. Manzil achuki tha. Mujhe usko chorna hi tha ab. Hum mazeed sath nahi reh saktey thay, mujhe jana hi tha. Ku k barish zoroun pet hi, lihaza majburan main bike ko parking me chor k ghar agaya…!

Apple Acquires iPad3.com With Much Ease

A couple of days ago the world came across the bizarre story that Apple has filed a patent application to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for the right to possess domain iPad3.com. This domain has been yet another entity in the list of Internet addresses, "related" to the technique of Apple, and therefore of interest to the company in terms of intellectual property rights to protect their users from fraud.

After the news going global that Apple filed a case against the company to gain access of iPad3.c0m domain, and although it is not officially decided yet, the domain holding company has decided to transfer the same to Apple. It became known that the struggle for possession of the domain of iPad3 has turned successful. It has been reported that the owner of iPad3.com domain, the Global Access Company, has licensed the possession of this domain to Apple.

Interestingly, in this case the application filed by Apple in the World Intellectual Property Organization is still considered "active"; this means that officials have not even rendered their decision, and the owners voluntarily handed iPad3.com domain rights to Apple. It seems that the threat of court had frightened the owners so much that they decided not to mess with trained lawyers in the patent Apple lawsuits.

Behind the Apple domain fiasco, there is a law firm specialising in intellectual property and brand protection, Kilpatrick Stockton & Townsend, who is the actual owner of the iPad3.com domain right now. The company has already been asked to pursue the case by Apple, which could be the true owner of the domain. The owner of iPad3.com domain has changed, so now Kilpatrick Stockton & Townsend, an international law firm, owns the field referring to an Apple product. It was sold by Global Access.

If Apple is not mentioned in the Whois as the owner of the domain iPad3.com, it can’t be excluded that Kilpatrick Stockton & Townsend has acted on behalf of the company, especially since Apple made a request to this area with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Nevertheless, the acquisition domain, if confirmed, does not necessarily indicate future exploitation by the American giant, whose goal may simply be to protect its trademarks. For example, Apple had obtained iPhone5.com, recovered from a forum on iPhone.

Thus, the next thing Apple has on cards will be getting the rights to the domains which are not even finished or just in conceptualisation state — it seems the company has now finally turned its gaze to the iPad.com and get it under their belt.

iPhone Apps, The 101 requirement For Business

A few years ago when the internet emerged, many companies were wondering if it was really necessary for them to have a website. Time has shown that the correct answer was YES! Now we have a similar question: do you need an iPhone application for business? The answer should be yes because we know that history is cyclical and always repeats itself. It happened with the internet and it looks like it will happen with the mobile and obviously as a company, are we going to run the risk of "not exist" a few years time?

But we will not rush out to find an iPhone developer to design a fully customised application tailored to business needs just because there is the possibility of history repeating itself, right? As rational people we need numbers and arguments that help us make these important decisions, here are some:

The Numbers Game

The popularity of Apple devices has surpassed the expectations of many, both at sales and popularity. Its influence has changed the way we communicate and entertain ourselves in our lives, both personally and at work.

It is not difficult to imagine why so many people are in love with this platform: easy to use, and it just happens to put life to fit in our pocket and therefore can join wherever you go.

According to recent statements by Apple, more than 200 million consumers in 90 different countries have an Apple device and the number is growing daily. Furthermore, a recent Nielsen study revealed that 66% of iPhone users download software and applications, explaining that since 2008 over 15 billion applications have been downloaded via the AppStore.

However, you still not clear about the exact way in which a mobile application can be beneficial to business, and probably still wondering why we make that investment? Read on...

Adapt Or Collapse

An iPhone application will allow us to evolve, adapt and survive in a market governed by technological advances and increasingly competitive software. Evolve your marketing plan by taking a step further. We will adapt to the prevailing market trends, we will be up to date and comply with the expectations of consumers, who increasingly expect to find applications that are useful or full of entertainment. In addition an application helps to survive in the jungle because it will allow competitors to compete on several fronts and benefit from a more competitive advantage if your main competitors do not have their own application yet.

Business To Consumer (B2C) Communication

A good iPhone application (with a good strategy behind of course), will enables to strengthen relationship with existing customers and contact new customers. With an iPhone application and active notification mechanism the contact with customers is simplified because one can design it to news and offers through an automatic hobble. In addition it is estimated that approximately 42% of users use these applications several times a day and 48% spend between 10 and 30 minutes with them. It certainly looks a good opportunity to be part of the daily lives of your consumers and gain insight about your brand, right?

Benefits

The advantages of smartphone applications that can integrate easily with other elements of online strategy are twofold, thus allowing all other channels – blog, social networking, and corporate website. This allows companies to be more accessible to the consumer and helps them reinforce branding, brand presence and importance in the minds of consumers. Eventually this may give profits.

In short, with millions of new Apple users, your business should not miss this amazing communication channel. The data clearly shows that the mobile market, for its young demographic and usually greater purchasing power, is a gold mine to get potential customers, sales and exposure levels.

Phir Se Mujhe Choor K Janey K Liye Aa

Kal raat, jab 4-din k taweel arsey k baad, main waqt nikal k apney waldein se milney ja raha tha to sab se akhir me mujhe traffic jam ka samna karna para, or aadha kilometer rasta adhey ghaney me tay howa. Ye bilkul shah Muhammad qabristan k dakhli darwazey ki baat ha, ek jame gafeer jama tha, bas sar hi sar nazar aatey thay, patharey waloun ka shoor tha or logon ki bhagdar. Main ne bike ka engine off kardiya, ku k rasta khulney ki koi umeed bar aati thi na soorat nazar aati thi.

Engine band howa to zehan idhar udhar ki batein sochnay laga. Un tamam afraad k barey main, jo is ek din k liye hi jaagtey hian or phir pura saal murr k nahi daikhtey, na hi koi ehtimaam kartey hain apney pyaroun k esaal e sawaab ka.

Esay main achanak Mehdi Hassan saahb yaad agaye jo isi qabristaan ki chaar-dewari me kahein abdi neend soo rahey hain. Or mujhe laga k jesay wo apni ghazal ka wo misra gunguna rahey hon, jo is waqt in tamam logoun pe saadiq aata ha k ….
“AA PHIR SE MUJHE CHOOR K JANEY K LIYE AA…!”

Or main mazeed sochoun main ghir gaya… Raasta to khul hi gaya par par sochoun ki girah mazeed ulaj gayi

My Devotion Towards My Goal

It’s a common saying that a man is known by the company he keeps, I enhance this further that, “he is also known by how he keeps his surroundings”. By keeping the surrounding good means to keep it clean, tidy, peaceful and fertile for literary growth. It should be kept in mind that if the surrounding of an educational institute is not tidy and peaceful then there is less chance for a literary approach to flourish. This was somewhat the essence of our first lecture at Karachi University by our visionary teacher, and I sort of made it a bible for my entire life.

In my whole tenure at university I had been living up to implement the above mentioned saying, or at least become an aid to those who were trying to do so. Throughout our student days in university we were very active through our youth-based platform KUMAK, we organized cleaning campaigns, held literary discussions, organized reading sessions and much more to establish a literary environment in our department, where knowledge found a peaceful environment to persist.

Karachi University, as most of us know, is under strong control of political parties which operate through their respective student groups, ill-famed for their not-so-humble attitude. Despite their repeated claims of being an aid to students on campus, they actually are annoying at times and mostly a hindrance in the smooth flow of literary activities inside the university premises. They can be seen boycotting classes, forcing teachers not to teach, doing wall-chalking on department walls, pasting posters on every clean space of wall they find making the department more of a ‘Numaish Chowrangi’.

I, along with others fellows had actively initiated cleaning campaigns in our department to clear it off the political posters and hold. We always faced strong objection from political parties for keeping the environment clean of their influence but we somehow managed to tackle it, sometimes by diplomacy or sometime by completely ignoring to their threats.

I somehow managed to take the official permission for running this campaign, or had to look for favorable allies to keep them calm, but we never stopped following the right path. We had gathered a sizable number of like-minded students who all wanted a peaceful and tidy learning place, this lobbying proved effective many times.

Things don’t run smooth all the time and there comes a time when you have to face the heat. It was my time to face the music some one and a half year back, when I was in my final semester. On a sunny day, we who were doing the poster cleaning in department got in deep trouble at the sudden arrival of the political activists, that too of the same party whose posters we were removing. Despite the various efforts to calm the situation, the mess was done and it all ended up with me getting the beating of my life - yes it happens in KU. It was a very awkward situation for me, lying on the department floor with a bleeding nose. I had never expected this, but this never made me go off track. I went back to doing the same cleaning up, this time a bit more carefully and in a subliminal way without coming to front and preferring to control the strings from backyard, but the mission prevailed.

The bible constituted on day-one was followed in its true letter and spirit and it will be, the motivation is still there though I don’t regularly visit the university, when I do, I try to leave a mark. Not on my nose, but on the surroundings.

Apple Will Reach The 25Billion Mark, What About You?

The world may not be growing physically but technically it is enhancing tremendously, courtesy the massive number of inventions and technologies on exhibit. Human consumption of new tech-gadgets has increased like never before and with Apple announcing to reach the “25 billion apps download” milestone, man seems more like an app-eater rather than consumer.

To fulfill this apps-appetite the smartphone application designers and developers are always on the go, carrying out new innovations in apps industry. A close analysis of acquired data reveals that there are several apps being downloaded per minute, even second. With this rate it wouldn’t take long for Apple to reach “25 billion apps download” milestone. The company says on its counter page, “As of today, nearly 25 billion apps have been downloaded worldwide. Download the 25 billionth app, and you could win a US$10,000 App Store Gift Card.”

The race is on full swing and probably by the time you get to read this, it would be finished with a winner taking away $10,000. What will remain is the vast market of application design industry where at one side you have a never ending clientele while on the other hand you find a huge number of app designers and developers fulfilling the demands of customers. The market is growing enormously, as in case of Apple the company has added 15 billion apps to its count at this time last year. In Jan 2011 Apple hit 10 billion downloaded apps, PC Magazine reported.

A recent report published by Holzer & Ondrust in Switzerland states there are many new opportunities for apps designers to develop, distribute, and generate significant revenues with the emerging mobile application portals. The PC Magazine article also identified the 10 billion app downloads in Google’s Android market by the end of 2011. It will be pertinent to mention that users are currently downloading approximately one billion apps a month, giving you a clear picture of the immense scope in apps designing and developing industry.

Experts believe that mobile/smartphone is the biggest war platform ever, and with the rise in social media usage on it the scenario is all set for developers to conquer. "The count of mobile-connected gadgets will outdo the number of people on planet earth by the end of 2012, and by 2016 there will be 1.4 mobile devices per capita," a recent Cisco forecast said.

In this ever-changing world you cannot stick to one thing and feel secure, you have to excel and you must. You need to excel in accordance to the prevailing trends in market, if you fail to transform things will not get going for you. Switching to creative and unique smartphone apps is more like a necessity, either to enhance you business venture or to stay updated and connected 24/7. Apple is about to, and definitely will, reach the 25 billion apps download milestone, but are you concerned of you own standing in this fast moving world.

Compatible smartphone applications are there for you, just visit the portfolio at 365SocialMedia website and order your app.

Education Verification Made Easy For Employers

Education embezzlement tops the list of resume fraud being practiced in today’s job market. These days employers prefer candidates with advanced skills and specific educational degrees or certifications, this is the main reason for applicants to falsify their academic record just to fit into employer’s criteria.

This trend is seen on the rise in the past few years as education fraud cases can even be seen on the front pages of newspaper. An insight into the matter revealed the intensity of problem stating that two-thirds of college registrars confirm that they have been approached to verify falsified education credentials, including those obtained via diploma mills.

Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) has categorically enlisted education among the top five items which every employer must verify. According to SHRM more than 53% of job applicants falsify information on their resumes, another finding reveals that one out of four candidates misrepresents his educational attainment. ADP Screening Index shows that employment, education and credential reference checks disclose 45% manipulation in applicant's information. In another finding by Wall Street Journal, 34% of all application forms contain misrepresentations about the applicants' experience, education, and ability to perform essential job functions.

The world renowned body of fraud examiners, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), said in its report that 41% of applicants lie about education. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in America affirms that there are about 500,000 people who claim college degrees they never earned.

The cost of hiring the wrong guy is much of a concern for employers, as this is an extra burden in this recession period. Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) estimates that it costs $3,500 to replace an $8 per hour employee, $7,000 to replace a salaried employee, $10,000 to replace a mid-level employee, and $40,000 to replace a senior executive.

Forging Credentials

There are many ways one can forge his actual credentials, a close analysis highlights some of the major falsification trends as how people tend to manipulate their credentials.

1. They mention a degree which is not in real but just exists on resume (e.g., earning an associate’s degree, but listing a bachelor’s degree).

2. Citing a different major, not the one which is actually earned (e.g., earning a general education degree, but listing a communications degree).

3. Referring a degree from an institution but not actually graduating from there ( e.g., quitting college after only six months of attendance).

4. Acquiring degree from an unaccredited university or online diploma mill (these degrees are even verifiable but actually they are fake).

Red Flag

At this point you might be thinking of it as impossible to point out any falsification in educational credentials at the very instance of seeing it. But it actually is not that rocket science, you just have to be bit skeptical-cum-curios and use some common sense, and you can easily point out a red flag. Here we add to your knowledge some commonly seen red flags.

1. Out of Sequence Degrees. Educational degrees are earned in a traditional progression i.e. high school, followed by bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral or other advanced degrees. But if your applicant has shown no General Educational Development (GED) diploma or high school certificate and has directly jumped to master’s degree, the bell rings, it can be from a diploma mill.

2. Degrees On A Rush. You yourself along with others have taken time to qualify for degrees, three to four years for an undergraduate degree, one or two years for master’s, and even longer to earn a doctorate. Any degree earned in a short span or several degrees listed for the same year are surely a reason to raise red flag, both for the employer and the person doing preliminary screening.

3. Live Somewhere, Study Somewhere Else? You need to be in the vicinity of an institution to study from there, it can’t be done if you are doing a fulltime job in a state far away from the institution. If the applicant didn’t live where he went to school, there are chances that the degree may be from a diploma mill.

4. Sound-Alike Names. Diploma mills have a ploy to use name that look or sound like those of well-known colleges or universities. If the institution has a name similar to a well-known school, but is located in a different state, check on it. If you come across a degree from an institution with a prestigious-sounding foreign name, that calls for some homework, too.

5. Foreign Degrees. Applicants come with degrees from foreign institutes which is certainly a tough job to verify but consider it a warning sign if an applicant claims a degree from a country where she never lived.

Repercussions with Wrong Hiring

Educational fraud and falsification is likely to result in grave damage to the reputation of a business along with hiring cost of replacement, employee productivity gets less, you become vulnerable to damage of property and life and even expose yourself to legal obligations.

According to officials from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Department of Education, and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) bogus credentials can compromise your credibility — and that of your organization. When you place an incompetent person in a position of responsibility, you actually risk your organizational stability as that individual’s actions can bring harm to your company. Hiring a person who is dishonest, about mentioning his qualifications, exposes your organization and colleagues to potential damage, and if the bogus degrees are brought to light, you risk embarrassment.

What Is The Solution?

The solution to this problem is not that hard to find, keeping in view the above mentioned points you get an insight to what might be the case. Just go ahead to verify it online, online education verification is one of the most inexpensive, easiest and fastest ways an employer can reduce the risk and cost of making bad hiring decisions.

Education Verifications are worthful in assuring the honesty of applicant, at the same time protecting an employer against delinquent hiring claims. Training and education are considered pivotal to an employee's on-the-job success. An Education Verification search corroborates that the training, education and certification claims of an applicant are in compliance.