Month: September 2008

People Search the Darndest Things

Sohaib Athar2 Comments
Searches

Each blog has its own micro-zeitgeist (that’s a word that I just made up, or neologized) that gives an insight into its place in the larger scheme of things, and this one is no different. Like most of the human race, I like to look at my Google Analytics data every now and then, perhaps as an aid to introspection, or perhaps because they look very pretty. Looking at the search queries that bring people here, I see some queries that have an answer/solution here, and I hope that the inquirer had to look no further. There are queries that I could have answered in a closely related post, but chose not to, and there are queries that make me wonder about the inquirer’s mental health. There’s also a lot of raw material and leads for possible blog posts, but that’s for real bloggers, not me.

Since I have a few free minutes, let me share a small slice of search strings with you, in decreasing order of popularity, and the replies-that-never-were… because I have nothing better to do.

Read more “People Search the Darndest Things”

Google Says No ‘Doodle For You!’

Sohaib Athar20 Comments

It started with the perceptive ProPakistani people noticing how Google has never had an Islam themed doodle on their homepage, and Dr. Awab picked up the discussion the next day.

I personally think that Google not showing any Doodles for Islamic events has something to do with their “Do No Evil” policy  😉 Seriously though, while Google can not be forced to cater to each segment of their customer base, especially since doodling is the secondary responsibility of the guy who creates them, but given that Read more “Google Says No ‘Doodle For You!’”

N Things I Miss About IRC

Sohaib Athar10 Comments

mIRCIf you cut your cyber-teeth on MySpace and Facebook, you probably won’t recognize the face of Khaled Mardam-Bay. For millions (yes, millions) of us, though, he is the Zuckerberg of the 20th century (that’s where the IRC generation comes from), and IRC is where we took our first cyber-steps. You may want to hit Google and do some digital archeology to find out about IRC in general and mIRC in particular. Meanwhile, I just want to list down all the things that IRC meant to us, the generation that was exhilarated when we upgraded from a Hercules to a CGA monitor. So join me as I reminisce about life online in the last decade… after the nag screen. Read more “N Things I Miss About IRC”

We Pakistanis are People of the Mongol Horde

Sohaib Athar14 Comments
Mongol

I just watched the movie ‘Mongol‘ which is based on the early life of Genghis Khan, or Temujjin. The movie was shot in the Mongolian language, so I was surprised to spot many words that sounded like their counterparts in Urdu. I always thought the word ‘Urdu’ was from Turkish, but after a bit of research, I found out that ‘Horde’ means ‘Military Camp’ in Mongolian too:

Urdu is a Mongolian and Turkish word meaning “military camp” and is the root of the English word “horde.” When the Central Asian tribal warriors came into northern India, Urdu is the creole that ended up being spoken in the camps so that Hindu traders could sell the Muslim grandees their goods).

Among the Urdu sounds that I recognized were “Aba” for “father” and “Utho” for wake up. I’m sure there are many more common roots, but sadly, most of the mongolian online dictionaries use their alphabet, which I can’t read.

Not a lot has changed since the 12th century – we have continued being a horde, there is something in our nomadic roots that disagrees with settling down mentally and calling a place home. Our military camps are always at the forefront, and like a military camp, we still don’t really care about trashing this piece of land with death and destruction. Like Mongols, we trade and kill our women like animals.

Here’s a podcast on Urdu for you:

So, do you like goat milk too?

Bajour, Bajor, What’s the Difference?

ReallyVirtual2 Comments

As a trekkie-in-denial who watched the whole Deep Space Nine this year and who is also a citizen of Pakistan, I can’t help being reminded the Bajor of DS9 each time somebody is killed in the Bajour of Pakistan. Those of you who have seen the series (and know about the Bajourian incidents) will know what I’m talking about. The rest of you, if you are in Lahore and want to see DS9, you know who to talk to 🙂
DS9
The DS9 producer denies that the planet was modelled after an actual location, and says that “unfortunately, the homeless and terrorism are problems in every age.” which makes the similarities between the two places all the more interesting. I’ll attempt to list a few of the similarities that I can remember below from memory and without any verifications. Purist trekkies, please forgive me.

Bajor [Bajour] is a stategically located planet [area] at the border of a worm-hole [Pakistan]. The quadrant [country] on the other side is supposed to hold a lot of resources and trading opportunities. The people of Bajor [Bajour] were occupied by an alien race, when most of the Bajorans joined the Resistance, sabbotaging and attacking the invaders whenever they could, and finally fought them off. Bajorans [Bajourans] are a religious race, consulting their gods and prophets before making important decisions. Their religious leaders have a very strong influence over their politics, and sometimes take over and rule the planet [area]. Now, the Federation [US + allies], an alliance of multiple races that is technologically much more advanced than the Bajorans [Bajourans] has arrived and wants to help them rebuild, and ultimately join the Federation. Many religiously inclined Bajorans [Bajourans] are resistant to the idea…

Uh oh, blogging time is up. Qapplah!