From boredom to sheer inspiration

One arrived about five minutes late at the TEDx Karachi event and was greeted by a queue that was at least half a block long, comprising of attendants patiently waiting to enter the premises on a sweltering May afternoon. Last year, TEDx Karachi was an ‘international affair’, with speakers including TED’s curator Chris Anderson and Jacqueline…

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Wikileaks – Our own truth

On May 2, 2011, the US SEALs carried out the now nefarious mission to kill Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad without knowledge of our armed forces or government until what seems like the last moment. We as a nation woke up in an outrage. We were upset because our territorial sovereignty had been challenged, we…

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Losing textile, losing trade

Much awaited with trepidation, the budget speech last week left the business community, particularly the trade and industry sector, disappointed. The general consensus is that rather than being leaders, trade and industry are becoming more like a reflection of the crumbling edifice that is this country. To further the rot, we were witness to one…

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Interview in social media study by SMU

Recently the Singapore management university conducted a study on social media in Pakistan as part of their ongoing study of new media all over south asia. This yielded results which are interesting to read as they display just what the length and the breadth of the new media scene is here. This also includes podcast…

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Twitter 101

At first, there was only Facebook, the be-all and end-all of social media in Pakistan. You had to set up an account. It was a privilege; putting up all those updates and being part of a class of the country which was digitally aware – an outlet for the silent majority, as they were often…

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Social media circus

When we come across the term social media in mainstream media, it is always being trumpeted as a ground breaking leap that is altering the connected human conscience. But the question remains: how many Pakistanis use it properly? By social media, I mean the entire gamut of blogging/Twitter/Facebook/Linkedin, etc in case you are wondering or are…

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OBL’s death and the mystery around it

The day the twin towers fell on 9/11 in New york the world changed for the worse. From then on started the largest man hunt in history for a man known as “OBL” or Osama bin Ladin, the leader of Alqaeda, a terrorist organization hell bent on destroying life as we knew it . Two…

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Smart or not

I remember the moment quite clearly. I was completely lucid and walking past a shop which had funny looking bulky cellphones with lots of buttons, displayed with colourful banners. This was a time in life when looking at my Nokia’s blue screen made me feel a bit smug. However my carrier had just launched something…

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