Blonde 2.0
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Ayelet Noff
I have been in the hi tech field for many years, but only started blogging recently, and I must say I have found it to be very rewarding. I have received positive feedback from all over the world and knowing that people enjoy my writing really inspires me to write more. I have also met some great people through blogging who I probably would have never met otherwise. My hope is that people view me as a blogger that not only writes about the latest software or social network and how to use it, but rather adds some context to all these developments we're seeing around us.
I try to pick topics that are thought provoking and intriguing. I often time discuss web 2.0 culture and its influence on our daily lives. I cover various topics including social networks, internet tv, the meaning of online communities, our online identities and more. I basically write about things that interest me and I think would interest other people as well. So far it seems to be working.
Regarding promotion, I usually update my twitter regularly with my posts, and sometimes on the various social networks, but truthfully, self promotion can only get you so far with a blog. What you need in order to keep people coming is good content. If you write good stuff, people will come back. If you write crappy posts and promote them everywhere, what good will it do you? The smart way to promote yourself is to write good, original posts, and to promote those posts that you’re especially proud of.
I believe that blogging matters because it gives people a platform to express their opinions and exercise their freedom of speech. It is true that many blogs out there are not so great, but a lot of them are, and I have learned a great deal from reading these great blogs by people who I would have never had a chance to hear, if not for blogging.
I have been in the hi tech field for many years, but only started blogging recently, and I must say I have found it to be very rewarding. I have received positive feedback from all over the world and knowing that people enjoy my writing really inspires me to write more. I have also met some great people through blogging who I probably would have never met otherwise. My hope is that people view me as a blogger that not only writes about the latest software or social network and how to use it, but rather adds some context to all these developments we're seeing around us.I try to pick topics that are thought provoking and intriguing. I often time discuss web 2.0 culture and its influence on our daily lives. I cover various topics including social networks, internet tv, the meaning of online communities, our online identities and more. I basically write about things that interest me and I think would interest other people as well. So far it seems to be working.
Regarding promotion, I usually update my twitter regularly with my posts, and sometimes on the various social networks, but truthfully, self promotion can only get you so far with a blog. What you need in order to keep people coming is good content. If you write good stuff, people will come back. If you write crappy posts and promote them everywhere, what good will it do you? The smart way to promote yourself is to write good, original posts, and to promote those posts that you’re especially proud of.
I believe that blogging matters because it gives people a platform to express their opinions and exercise their freedom of speech. It is true that many blogs out there are not so great, but a lot of them are, and I have learned a great deal from reading these great blogs by people who I would have never had a chance to hear, if not for blogging.
My personal high blogging points therefore come from making meaningful connections with other bloggers that inspire me and also from interacting with my readers and hearing their thoughts on the various topics.
Labels: Fine Art of Blogging
posted by Shirazi @ 8:00 AM,
, links to this post
For Trekkers and Mountain Lovers
Friday, May 30, 2008
The awe inspiring Himalayan Mountains – along with Hindu Kush, Karakorum and Pamirs - offer every kind of heavenly beauty. Northern Pakistan is a land of contrasts, of surprises, a richly textured melting pot of diversity that leaves a vivid memory in the minds of every visitor, hiker or adventurer – only if the world knows it.
Northern Areas of Pakistan, spread over 72,496 square kilometres are fascinating. Amidst towering snow-clad peaks with heights varying from 1,000 meters to 8, 000 meters, the regions of Gilgit, Hunza and Baltistan (and beyond to Siachin through Gonma – the highest human habitat on the earth) recall Shangri-La. The cultural patterns of these regions are as interesting as its geography.
Pakistan is also a country with strong cultural traditions. Half a dozen civilisations have flourished here and left their imprints. Historically, Pakistan is one of the most ancient lands known to man. The land blossomed even before Babylon was built; its people practiced the art of good living and citizenship long before the celebrated ancient Greeks. But let us pause for a second and visualise the scenario in the present Northern Areas of Pakistan in the earlier centuries, when travellers, notably Fa Hian and Tsang Huang- both Chinese pilgrims, trotted along the "old silk route" crossing over the Hunza valley to enter into their destiny- the Gandhara regions, where it rained powder and rocks as they made their "pilgrimage" to these high places a "a great adventure". Today, these places of magnificent natural beauty can be reached in comfort on an air flight or by the winding roads.
Nowhere in the world is such a great concentration of high mountains, peaks, glaciers, clean water lacks (full of trout and romantic legend attached to them) and passes except Pakistan. Of the 14 over 8,000 meters high peaks on our earth planet, four occupy an amphitheatre at the head of Baltoro glacier in the Karakorum Range: K-2 (8,611 meters, world's second highest), Gasherbrum-I (8,068 meters), Broad Peak (8,047 meters) and Gasherbrum-II (8,035 meters). There is yet another, which is equally great, Nanga Parbat (8,126 meters), located at the western most corner of the Himalayas. In addition to that, there are 68 peaks over 7,000 meters and hundreds others over 6,000 meters. The Northern Pakistan has some of the longest glaciers outside Polar region; Siachen (72 kilometres famous as the highest battle field in the world military history), Hispar (61 kilometres), Biafo (60 k kilometres), Baltoro (60 k kilometres) and Batura (64 k kilometres).
These mountains divide this area into a number of valleys, with the inhabitants varied ethnically, linguistically, religiously, and socially. Besides heavenly scenery, the people with typical costumes, folk dances, music and sports like Polo and Buzkashi, provide travellers an unforgettable experience. While isolated due to the extreme terrain, these areas have been at the centre of important trade and Interaction networks since pre-Silk Road times.
The legendary silk roan now known by its mundane acronym, the Karakorum Highway has footprints ingrained in it that belong to great travellers like Marco polo, Alexander of Macedonia, Buddhist pilgrims and Babur, the descendant of Gengis Khan who founded the Mughal dynasty on the Subcontinent. Until 1982 travel to this area was nearly impossible; the completion of the Karakorum Highway in 1986 opened this area to visitors eager to explore the high valleys, climb the peaks, and enjoy the hospitality of the inhabitants. I started my journeys to the areas in 1990 though.
Where as the entire Northern Areas are magnificent but the Hunza valley is virtually the best. People of the areas are kind hospitable, generous in nature, warm and welcoming, and have beautiful spirit. Their labours have transformed a rocky, desolate land into an endless terraced garden and their soul managed to transform hearts into blooming gardens. The gardens blossoms into in each little valley. But still while glaciers and mountains rocks falls, the mountain cause problems, the flexible transport system just leaves these obstructions to bypass by foot.
As one moves east further up Hunza Valley beyond Deosai Plains, the mountains get close to the roads and the valley turns northward. Crossing to the west side of the Hunza River, there is a puzzling sight. A huge wall of snow runs up in the mountains, across any possible roadway, to the river. Hiking above, when travellers climb following goat paths and gain views of the peaks, they see the natural springs and the smiling locals laughing at the path-deficient tourists.
Or if one is further north in Pasu intending to hike to Pasughar and Borit Lake (on right of Pasu glacier), one of the longest in the world, you see incredible peaks poked up from behind ridges, allowing seeing nearly a dozen of the 100 tallest mountains in the course of one day. Along this hike, you cross a low pass headed toward Borit Lake. Behind the goats you see the shepherds [mom, daughter, sons and husband]; who have food and tea with them (remember the famous couplet that reads, "Bacha baghal men our kamar pe ghar bandha tha"). Typical of this area, it seemed one cannot escape the kind locals and their endless supply of tea and snacks. After meeting the shepherds in the way, hike a few hours to reach Borit Lake – only a few go to this heavenly place (and this is where pari Jia Ku lives). This strange coloured lake is high above a mountain village. This area provides the most spectacular mountain landscapes in the world and if you are there, you will find the entire area to yourself.
Visitors find peace and solitude in this enchanting mountain kingdom. The valleys are a paradise for trekkers and mountain lovers. The treks in the glacial landscape of the upper valleys are a trekkers dream. A visit to this fairyland is a fantasy to be lived and relived as such places are rare and far between.
Northern Areas of Pakistan, spread over 72,496 square kilometres are fascinating. Amidst towering snow-clad peaks with heights varying from 1,000 meters to 8, 000 meters, the regions of Gilgit, Hunza and Baltistan (and beyond to Siachin through Gonma – the highest human habitat on the earth) recall Shangri-La. The cultural patterns of these regions are as interesting as its geography.
Pakistan is also a country with strong cultural traditions. Half a dozen civilisations have flourished here and left their imprints. Historically, Pakistan is one of the most ancient lands known to man. The land blossomed even before Babylon was built; its people practiced the art of good living and citizenship long before the celebrated ancient Greeks. But let us pause for a second and visualise the scenario in the present Northern Areas of Pakistan in the earlier centuries, when travellers, notably Fa Hian and Tsang Huang- both Chinese pilgrims, trotted along the "old silk route" crossing over the Hunza valley to enter into their destiny- the Gandhara regions, where it rained powder and rocks as they made their "pilgrimage" to these high places a "a great adventure". Today, these places of magnificent natural beauty can be reached in comfort on an air flight or by the winding roads.
Nowhere in the world is such a great concentration of high mountains, peaks, glaciers, clean water lacks (full of trout and romantic legend attached to them) and passes except Pakistan. Of the 14 over 8,000 meters high peaks on our earth planet, four occupy an amphitheatre at the head of Baltoro glacier in the Karakorum Range: K-2 (8,611 meters, world's second highest), Gasherbrum-I (8,068 meters), Broad Peak (8,047 meters) and Gasherbrum-II (8,035 meters). There is yet another, which is equally great, Nanga Parbat (8,126 meters), located at the western most corner of the Himalayas. In addition to that, there are 68 peaks over 7,000 meters and hundreds others over 6,000 meters. The Northern Pakistan has some of the longest glaciers outside Polar region; Siachen (72 kilometres famous as the highest battle field in the world military history), Hispar (61 kilometres), Biafo (60 k kilometres), Baltoro (60 k kilometres) and Batura (64 k kilometres).
These mountains divide this area into a number of valleys, with the inhabitants varied ethnically, linguistically, religiously, and socially. Besides heavenly scenery, the people with typical costumes, folk dances, music and sports like Polo and Buzkashi, provide travellers an unforgettable experience. While isolated due to the extreme terrain, these areas have been at the centre of important trade and Interaction networks since pre-Silk Road times.
The legendary silk roan now known by its mundane acronym, the Karakorum Highway has footprints ingrained in it that belong to great travellers like Marco polo, Alexander of Macedonia, Buddhist pilgrims and Babur, the descendant of Gengis Khan who founded the Mughal dynasty on the Subcontinent. Until 1982 travel to this area was nearly impossible; the completion of the Karakorum Highway in 1986 opened this area to visitors eager to explore the high valleys, climb the peaks, and enjoy the hospitality of the inhabitants. I started my journeys to the areas in 1990 though.
Where as the entire Northern Areas are magnificent but the Hunza valley is virtually the best. People of the areas are kind hospitable, generous in nature, warm and welcoming, and have beautiful spirit. Their labours have transformed a rocky, desolate land into an endless terraced garden and their soul managed to transform hearts into blooming gardens. The gardens blossoms into in each little valley. But still while glaciers and mountains rocks falls, the mountain cause problems, the flexible transport system just leaves these obstructions to bypass by foot.
As one moves east further up Hunza Valley beyond Deosai Plains, the mountains get close to the roads and the valley turns northward. Crossing to the west side of the Hunza River, there is a puzzling sight. A huge wall of snow runs up in the mountains, across any possible roadway, to the river. Hiking above, when travellers climb following goat paths and gain views of the peaks, they see the natural springs and the smiling locals laughing at the path-deficient tourists.
Or if one is further north in Pasu intending to hike to Pasughar and Borit Lake (on right of Pasu glacier), one of the longest in the world, you see incredible peaks poked up from behind ridges, allowing seeing nearly a dozen of the 100 tallest mountains in the course of one day. Along this hike, you cross a low pass headed toward Borit Lake. Behind the goats you see the shepherds [mom, daughter, sons and husband]; who have food and tea with them (remember the famous couplet that reads, "Bacha baghal men our kamar pe ghar bandha tha"). Typical of this area, it seemed one cannot escape the kind locals and their endless supply of tea and snacks. After meeting the shepherds in the way, hike a few hours to reach Borit Lake – only a few go to this heavenly place (and this is where pari Jia Ku lives). This strange coloured lake is high above a mountain village. This area provides the most spectacular mountain landscapes in the world and if you are there, you will find the entire area to yourself.
Visitors find peace and solitude in this enchanting mountain kingdom. The valleys are a paradise for trekkers and mountain lovers. The treks in the glacial landscape of the upper valleys are a trekkers dream. A visit to this fairyland is a fantasy to be lived and relived as such places are rare and far between.
posted by Shirazi @ 7:57 PM,
, links to this post
Snap out of it Jean!
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Jean Yates
I believe that if a person has nothing to say, a blog is a terrible waste of time. I can't understand the need to crank out boring junk about nothing. On the other hand, I have come across blogs by serendipity which entranced and delighted me. For example, one which I found by accident last week I bookmarked for future reference. It made me laugh, hard! I read most of the entries. I even left a comment. The person has no idea who I am. I am a total pushover for humor. If I read something I find funny, the writer instantly has my respect.
I find poor spelling and bad grammar anathema. I am trying to get over my disdain for poor grammar because often the writer just didn't have a classical education but still might have worthwhile things to say. I do not think I rule the world of blogs.
I blog sitting in front of the TV, with the laptop I use for my book, which is coming out in January 2008. Yes, if you use my replies, you have to put my book, LINKS by Jean Yates, “available for preorder now!” at amazon.com, in there somewhere. It's a jewelry design book like no other! Even worth giving to your family doctor, who will shortly be sporting the most gorgeous earrings and bracelets, and quite possibly shall soon quit his day job to become a maverick jewelry designer due to the inspiration garnered from my book. Run, don’t walk! to buy LINKS!
Why blog? Well, this particular blog, "Snap out of it, Jean, there's beading to be done!", I started specifically because of my book. It is attached to my jewelry site.
I was using a journal format on my site, but it had no archive. When I went out to my publishers in Ohio, the PR guy told me to start up this blog to help publicize the book. I am really terrible at technical things, but I forced myself to do this. I managed it set it up and I am very glad. It is so much more flexible than the journal page I have, which is still sitting on my site. As for why in general, I have been blogging for years on tons of places: a health site (to help people), diaryland, here and there. I actually have been writing online regularly since 1999-2000. I am a blog prostitute.
A blog to me is a place to express thoughts and insights of a specific nature which readers might be interested in. I must be aware that there are people out there, who quite possibly are actually reading what I write. I don't want to waste anyone's time. I don't consider my blog a place to blather on and on about junk.
Sometimes I just think about it for a while the night before. Sometimes I have "scheduled days" which help me. For example, I have just added "Illustration Fridays", to my schedule. I am supposed to illustrate something specific to a topic they email me each week, and post it that Friday. Ironically, I already have "Stuff Portrait Fridays", where I am supposed to take a photo of something specific and post it on Friday, but what the heck.
About promotion? I don't know. I really suck at all that. I don't even understand this question. How pathetic am I? I just do this, and hope people will "come across" my blog. Ack! If YOU want to help me, email me again, ok? You seem to know what you’re doing!
Blogging matters when you really touch someone in some fashion. Even if I haven't met my online readers, I know some of them in a slight way, because they leave comments. I go to their blogs and leave comments, as well. This is not done just to be polite; it is done when a person is moved by what has been read. Reading is a valuable, important thing. Blogging has united the world. I have said above that some blogs are a waste of time, but in a sense, the overall unity which has been derived from this phenomenal new force which is blogging is a fine thing.
I believe that if a person has nothing to say, a blog is a terrible waste of time. I can't understand the need to crank out boring junk about nothing. On the other hand, I have come across blogs by serendipity which entranced and delighted me. For example, one which I found by accident last week I bookmarked for future reference. It made me laugh, hard! I read most of the entries. I even left a comment. The person has no idea who I am. I am a total pushover for humor. If I read something I find funny, the writer instantly has my respect.I find poor spelling and bad grammar anathema. I am trying to get over my disdain for poor grammar because often the writer just didn't have a classical education but still might have worthwhile things to say. I do not think I rule the world of blogs.
I blog sitting in front of the TV, with the laptop I use for my book, which is coming out in January 2008. Yes, if you use my replies, you have to put my book, LINKS by Jean Yates, “available for preorder now!” at amazon.com, in there somewhere. It's a jewelry design book like no other! Even worth giving to your family doctor, who will shortly be sporting the most gorgeous earrings and bracelets, and quite possibly shall soon quit his day job to become a maverick jewelry designer due to the inspiration garnered from my book. Run, don’t walk! to buy LINKS!
Why blog? Well, this particular blog, "Snap out of it, Jean, there's beading to be done!", I started specifically because of my book. It is attached to my jewelry site.
I was using a journal format on my site, but it had no archive. When I went out to my publishers in Ohio, the PR guy told me to start up this blog to help publicize the book. I am really terrible at technical things, but I forced myself to do this. I managed it set it up and I am very glad. It is so much more flexible than the journal page I have, which is still sitting on my site. As for why in general, I have been blogging for years on tons of places: a health site (to help people), diaryland, here and there. I actually have been writing online regularly since 1999-2000. I am a blog prostitute.
A blog to me is a place to express thoughts and insights of a specific nature which readers might be interested in. I must be aware that there are people out there, who quite possibly are actually reading what I write. I don't want to waste anyone's time. I don't consider my blog a place to blather on and on about junk.
Sometimes I just think about it for a while the night before. Sometimes I have "scheduled days" which help me. For example, I have just added "Illustration Fridays", to my schedule. I am supposed to illustrate something specific to a topic they email me each week, and post it that Friday. Ironically, I already have "Stuff Portrait Fridays", where I am supposed to take a photo of something specific and post it on Friday, but what the heck.
About promotion? I don't know. I really suck at all that. I don't even understand this question. How pathetic am I? I just do this, and hope people will "come across" my blog. Ack! If YOU want to help me, email me again, ok? You seem to know what you’re doing!
Blogging matters when you really touch someone in some fashion. Even if I haven't met my online readers, I know some of them in a slight way, because they leave comments. I go to their blogs and leave comments, as well. This is not done just to be polite; it is done when a person is moved by what has been read. Reading is a valuable, important thing. Blogging has united the world. I have said above that some blogs are a waste of time, but in a sense, the overall unity which has been derived from this phenomenal new force which is blogging is a fine thing.
I have had certain high points in my blogging life. My family is important to me. My husband is very funny. When I include something he has done or said I get a great response. We also have quite a few children and two are autistic. When I write about them, which is rare, I am touched if people respond. I also like it if someone thinks some thing I have written is funny. That makes my day.
As for making money by blogging, I do have my book linked to my blog. If someone buys my book directly from my site, by going to Amazon.com from hitting that link, I get some money in the form of a gift certificate from Amazon.com. How cool is that? Hasn't happened, but it would be cool if it did! I know just what I would waste it on too! Nailpolish and CDs!!!!
Labels: Fine Art of Blogging
posted by Shirazi @ 8:00 AM,
, links to this post
Brow of Calm
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Ian Smith
It was towards the end of last summer that I really started using computers and the Internet on a frequent basis. I discovered blogging as a means of not only getting my personal writing, poetry and prose out there for people to read but also as a kind of journal of my personal development and growth.I got stuck in pretty quick just enjoying being creative with the lay-out and with the feel of this personal domain and wanted to create a more theme based blog.
Everyone knows that there is a lot of pollution and crap on the internet and I wanted to make my blog a haven, a place of peace and inspiration. This is something I strive for in my life, I want to bring calm, reflection and inspiration to the world. Blogging has been a way to do this.
I see my blog as a quiet, tranquil spot on the web where visitors can chill for a while, relax and view the art and photo’s, read some philosophy or spirituality; delve into the world of the myth and the mystic. Other categories include earth conservation, nature (I love and worship it), music (my latest discoveries and old favorites), and poetry amongst others.
Brow of Calm is a reflection of my own personality and temperament and my gift to the world, I am doing myself a favor too because through this blog I get a chance to express certain things I would normally have no chance of expressing to such a diverse public: things like my attitude towards life, my beliefs, my struggles and dark sides and my inner calm.
It gives me quite a thrill to know that people from all over the world are reading my blog and being positively influenced by it. I have a small group of loyal readers, most of them from my personal surroundings in the Netherlands, friends and family but also from overseas. I really enjoy the global diversity of my visitors and I have become a frequent blog reader myself.
Brow of Calm represents my inner journey, my transition from everyday social chaos to peace and love and the future. It has become a personal library for me, an excellent way to store knowledge and beauty for times to come, I can always look back to months gone by and see what I have been through and what I have learnt, I can also be proud of this creative work.
It’s a great feeling to be building a community through blogging, I have enjoyed the communication and appreciation and I have learnt so much about people and the world just by reading blogs, things that bring quality to my life and therefore also to the lives of others.
I also use my blog as a means of sharing, I often post links to blogs, photo-blogs and other sites of interest to let others know what has inspired me and so pass on the chances and credit. I hope that visitors find my blog beneficial to their mental state and their own journey through life but also catch a glimpse of the person behind the blog, my personality and inner beauty. Feel free to request a link exchange!
Labels: Fine Art of Blogging
posted by Shirazi @ 8:00 AM,
, links to this post
You Are Invited To Join Fine Art of Blogging
Monday, May 26, 2008
Internet is a lonely place without Blogging; a fine art, science, also economics. Blogs are different to different people. Fine Art of Blogging asks you to share your views on what is a blog to you?
You are invited to contribute your thoughts in general. In particular, write how you blog? Why?
How blogging matters in life and work? Success stories, motivations and inspirations. Answer these questions and more (add what you feel is important dimension) in a post and send in word document.
Read some of the writers bloggers (Every blogger is a writer. No?) who have already contributed and criteria for inviting bloggers to join Fine Art of Blogging.
posted by Shirazi @ 9:58 AM,
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The Impatient Blogger
Margot Potter
I write my blog from my art studio (which is a room in my house) each morning after my daughter goes to school. I started blogging a little over a year ago for several reasons. I’m an author and I need to promote my books and I’m a designer who needs to build a name in the craft and jewelry industry, by blogging daily I am hopefully cultivating readers. As my blog progressed I found it was inspirational to others and so my focus has expanded to allow for sharing my creative journey and my triumphs and failures with brutal honesty and a deep sense of irony and humor. My intent all along through my website www.margotpotter.com and my books and freelance work is to build and promote my brand. Brand Margot Potter. The goal is to eventually license product, host a TV show and take over the world. I hope to expand my books into the self help and inspirational mode, because that’s really where my creative work as an artist and a writer is heading. It’s all a step by step process and along the way my blog has continually expanded outward.
I don’t really pick topics as much as they pick me. Meaning, for the most part, I don’t really know what I might blather on about on any given day. I sit down and meditate on the rumblings in my brain until a topic emerges. I’ve yet to run out of things to talk about so this is working for me. My blogs are personal and not topical or regurgitated information from other sources. Everything in my blog with the exception of quotes I find compelling comes from me. I post my blog on blogger and repost it on MySpace every day. Unless I’m out of town or ill, I try to post every day. This helps maintain my readership and keeps my blog from getting stale. I promote my blog via my website and MySpace and also through my books and freelance work. I’ve joined various blogging platforms and groups like MyBlogLog, Blogger Chicks, Housewife Mafia, Spicy Page etc. This has really helped boost my readership. My blog is also available through a variety of feeds. I try when time permits to visit other blogs of personal or professional interest and leave comments, because this is an excellent way to network and court new readers and it’s also helped me meet some fascinating people. I wish I had more time to devote to promoting the blog, but I have a very, very hectic schedule as it is with things that actually pay me money!I think the best moments for me as a blogger happen when something I’ve written resonates really strongly for my readers. Sometimes that means wonderful comments or even private emails that tell me that I am empowering others to be creative or to work through some of their issues. That’s really ultimately why I blog, if it was just about me I’d keep a diary offline. My impetus is to show people that it is possible to do what you love and have the money follow. That the richest path is not always the well traveled one. Everything I do comes down to that.
I don’t make money with my blog, yet, maybe never. The blog is a platform for other things that make me money. I am loathe to junk it up with advertising because I’m afraid it would impede the integrity of the content. I would also never want to write a blog that was merely an advertising platform cloaked as entertainment or real content. I think it’s fine for other people, it’s just not who I am. I have considered running ads that I can control and selling them myself, but I’ve not made a definitive decision on that.
Blogging has been an amazing experience for me on so many levels. I’ve met amazing writers and designers, I’ve developed the discipline of writing every day, I’ve discovered things about myself I’d never have explored and I’ve created connections with like minded people from around the world. It’s been amazing.
Labels: Fine Art of Blogging
posted by Shirazi @ 8:00 AM,
, links to this post
Connections With Ahmed Shah Abdali
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Comfortably tucked in green hills north of Islamabad, Hasan Abdal is situated right on the Grand trunk Road. The town's claims to fame are Cadet College and temple of Panja Sahib. This small and clean historic town neat is sacred for Sikhs.
Hassan Abdal is famous for its cadet college and also serves as the gateway to some most stunning sites in Pakistan. It is from here that Karakoram Highways turns towards Northern Areas. It is a convenient halting point of Grand Trunk Road (G T Road) from where one can go to places like Abbotabad and Northern Areas, Peshawar, Taxila, Wah, Rawalpindi. Coins of the Greco-Bectrians kings discovered from the adjoining tract suggest that the area was inhabited in first century B.C. Accounts of Xuan Zang, a seventh century Chinese Buddhist traveler tells us that the place was also sacred to Buddhists. However, presently the town is associated with Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikh religion and Baba Wali Qandhari, a revered Muslim saint.
It is not clear how the town got its name but a reference is usually made to the eighteenth century Afghan conqueror, Ahmed Shah Abdali. The town has been mentioned by Mughal Emperor Jehangir in his memoirs and was frequently visited by successive Mughal Kings, on their way to Kashmir.
One has to understand it; it was wonderful during Mughal period: Romantic, beautiful and quiet. One of the significant landmark of past in Hasan Abdal is a set of greatly spread red brick buildings immediately to the west of the Grand Trunk Road. These buildings belong to the Cadet College Hasan Abdal, Pakistan's foremost premier boarding institution. Field Marshal Muhammad Ayub Khan inaugurated the school in 1954. The main academic block overlooks the college with a cricket ground in the centre, called the Oval. Six residential wings surround the Oval and it is always a pleasing sight to see smart young boys in uniforms walking towards their academic block. The college has always been famous for its academic results with its students bagging most of the top positions in board examinations. While Aitchison College has for a long time catered to the political leadership of the country, the establishment has come from colleges like Cadet College Hasan Abdal and Lawrence College.
One of the interesting facts regarding these colleges is the strong sense of comradeship and fraternity that prevails among the students. The boys of the Cadet College Hasan Abdal use word Abdalian with pride and pleasure. The Cadet College is surrounded by Loqat orchards, lush green fields and a gushing stream where a day with fishing rod can really be fruitful. Mr. Catchpole, the first principal of the College is also buried here.
The other claim of the town to international fame is Sikh Gurdwara (temple) known as Panja Sahib having a rock with the hand print of their religious leader Baba Guru Nanak. Twice a year, Sikh pilgrims visit this Gurdwara from all over the world. The legend has it that in 1521 AD, while passing through then deserted area on a very hot day, Guru Nanak's companion Bhai Mardana got very thirsty. The Guru suggested that he go to the Saint Baba Wali Qandhari who lived in a hut atop a nearby hill and ask for water. The Saint refused to give water from his well. Desperate with thirst, Mardana repeated his plea three times. Finally the saint reprimanded Mardana who returned to his guru and collapsed at his feet.
The Guru asked him to pick up a stone. The disciple did as he was told, and water flowed from under the stone, while the Saint's well dried up. The Saint then pushed a large boulder from hilltop and sent it rolling towards the Guru and Mardana. But when the boulder reached them, the Guru stretched out his hand and stopped it with his palm.
During Sikh rule, Hari Sing Nalva got the edifice of temple made at the place. Later, the temple was extended and a sarai (inn) was added for accommodation. The temple is typical of the rather florid Sikh style with gilded domes and cupolas and stands in the middle of a large water tank. Built with grey sandstone, its exterior is spotted with protruding domed bay windows. The central fluted dome is encircled by several symmetrically placed big and small domed kiosks. The cemented water tank derives its supply from a fresh water spring that emerges from underneath a huge rock. Now this huge rock has that famous hand print on it for which the site is known as 'Panja Sahib'. On the nearby hill, at an altitude of 714 meters, lies a meditation chamber of Saint Baba Wali Qandhari, popularly known as Baba Hasan Abdal. The saint stayed in Hasan Abdal from 1406-1416 AD but died and is buried in village Baba Wali near Qandhar (Afghanistan). The devotees and visitors climb over the steps leading to the hill, for offerings and to have a panoramic view of Hasan Abdal. Two other historical buildings of Mughal era (Muqbara Hakeeman and so-called tomb of Lala Rukh) are located just opposite the temple. Hasan Abdal is an interesting small town.
I have known Hasan Abdal during my stay in Abbotabad. It is a neat little town, as pretty as a picture postcard. The town has a character of its own. Environment is tranquil, pollution free and quiet. One finds countless attractions spread around the town. And you can see (and have) lines of shops selling mutton karahi made in desi ghee side by side Peshawar fame chappal kabab along the G T Road near buss stop. Move away from the traffic hustle of the G T Road and what strikes you first is the emptiness. There is nothing much there, just air of a blue that is so attenuated that it is almost white. You stand anywhere and breathe in the dry air, feel the sun upon your neck. You are in Hasan Abdal suburbs; a countryside that is on the main road but still relatively only a few people visit.
Hassan Abdal is famous for its cadet college and also serves as the gateway to some most stunning sites in Pakistan. It is from here that Karakoram Highways turns towards Northern Areas. It is a convenient halting point of Grand Trunk Road (G T Road) from where one can go to places like Abbotabad and Northern Areas, Peshawar, Taxila, Wah, Rawalpindi. Coins of the Greco-Bectrians kings discovered from the adjoining tract suggest that the area was inhabited in first century B.C. Accounts of Xuan Zang, a seventh century Chinese Buddhist traveler tells us that the place was also sacred to Buddhists. However, presently the town is associated with Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikh religion and Baba Wali Qandhari, a revered Muslim saint.
It is not clear how the town got its name but a reference is usually made to the eighteenth century Afghan conqueror, Ahmed Shah Abdali. The town has been mentioned by Mughal Emperor Jehangir in his memoirs and was frequently visited by successive Mughal Kings, on their way to Kashmir.
One has to understand it; it was wonderful during Mughal period: Romantic, beautiful and quiet. One of the significant landmark of past in Hasan Abdal is a set of greatly spread red brick buildings immediately to the west of the Grand Trunk Road. These buildings belong to the Cadet College Hasan Abdal, Pakistan's foremost premier boarding institution. Field Marshal Muhammad Ayub Khan inaugurated the school in 1954. The main academic block overlooks the college with a cricket ground in the centre, called the Oval. Six residential wings surround the Oval and it is always a pleasing sight to see smart young boys in uniforms walking towards their academic block. The college has always been famous for its academic results with its students bagging most of the top positions in board examinations. While Aitchison College has for a long time catered to the political leadership of the country, the establishment has come from colleges like Cadet College Hasan Abdal and Lawrence College.
One of the interesting facts regarding these colleges is the strong sense of comradeship and fraternity that prevails among the students. The boys of the Cadet College Hasan Abdal use word Abdalian with pride and pleasure. The Cadet College is surrounded by Loqat orchards, lush green fields and a gushing stream where a day with fishing rod can really be fruitful. Mr. Catchpole, the first principal of the College is also buried here.
The other claim of the town to international fame is Sikh Gurdwara (temple) known as Panja Sahib having a rock with the hand print of their religious leader Baba Guru Nanak. Twice a year, Sikh pilgrims visit this Gurdwara from all over the world. The legend has it that in 1521 AD, while passing through then deserted area on a very hot day, Guru Nanak's companion Bhai Mardana got very thirsty. The Guru suggested that he go to the Saint Baba Wali Qandhari who lived in a hut atop a nearby hill and ask for water. The Saint refused to give water from his well. Desperate with thirst, Mardana repeated his plea three times. Finally the saint reprimanded Mardana who returned to his guru and collapsed at his feet.
The Guru asked him to pick up a stone. The disciple did as he was told, and water flowed from under the stone, while the Saint's well dried up. The Saint then pushed a large boulder from hilltop and sent it rolling towards the Guru and Mardana. But when the boulder reached them, the Guru stretched out his hand and stopped it with his palm.
During Sikh rule, Hari Sing Nalva got the edifice of temple made at the place. Later, the temple was extended and a sarai (inn) was added for accommodation. The temple is typical of the rather florid Sikh style with gilded domes and cupolas and stands in the middle of a large water tank. Built with grey sandstone, its exterior is spotted with protruding domed bay windows. The central fluted dome is encircled by several symmetrically placed big and small domed kiosks. The cemented water tank derives its supply from a fresh water spring that emerges from underneath a huge rock. Now this huge rock has that famous hand print on it for which the site is known as 'Panja Sahib'. On the nearby hill, at an altitude of 714 meters, lies a meditation chamber of Saint Baba Wali Qandhari, popularly known as Baba Hasan Abdal. The saint stayed in Hasan Abdal from 1406-1416 AD but died and is buried in village Baba Wali near Qandhar (Afghanistan). The devotees and visitors climb over the steps leading to the hill, for offerings and to have a panoramic view of Hasan Abdal. Two other historical buildings of Mughal era (Muqbara Hakeeman and so-called tomb of Lala Rukh) are located just opposite the temple. Hasan Abdal is an interesting small town.
I have known Hasan Abdal during my stay in Abbotabad. It is a neat little town, as pretty as a picture postcard. The town has a character of its own. Environment is tranquil, pollution free and quiet. One finds countless attractions spread around the town. And you can see (and have) lines of shops selling mutton karahi made in desi ghee side by side Peshawar fame chappal kabab along the G T Road near buss stop. Move away from the traffic hustle of the G T Road and what strikes you first is the emptiness. There is nothing much there, just air of a blue that is so attenuated that it is almost white. You stand anywhere and breathe in the dry air, feel the sun upon your neck. You are in Hasan Abdal suburbs; a countryside that is on the main road but still relatively only a few people visit.
posted by Shirazi @ 11:34 AM,
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a little of ASP.NET, a little of AJAX, a little of GIS, well ... an all Atlas, can I still call it that?
Albert Pascual
I wouldn’t say I blog, I would say I post links, news and code that I may need in future. As a software engineer, I need a searchable place where my notes and thought, but most important, my code can be found. I started in 2005 and after losing my database with all the post, I learn two important lessons: the fine art of backing up and second that I actually was using those notes and “articles” pretty often.I won’t call them articles when they were barely a paste from my clipboard. In 2006, I started cleaning my blog a bit and posting more towards other people to read than just myself; I share some of my code with coworkers.
In 2007, I started reading more blogs from “well-known” bloggers and enjoying their style and learning the new and fast way of sharing information. A blog to me is a faster and more interactive way of sharing information and knowledge than a newspaper or a magazine, I, for once, canceled all my subscriptions to the LA Times and geek magazines, that I used to enjoy. Searching blogs or using RSS to read them gives me immediate access to that information without waiting for a person to deliver the magazine or paper. On the same token I like to share with other people the problems, solutions or the little tricks and tips. This is why I post!
Needless to say that (picking topics day after day) is one of the most difficult things to do lately. It was simple when I just posted code and tips about code. Whatever technology or code I was playing at the time, was pasted on my blog, no such thing as cleaning the code and writing an article about it.
Now that I started writing a little bit more instead of just posting code, I find myself searching for a topic that might be interesting to the readers of my blog. I am lucky if I have some research project, a new product or technology coming up to write about. Some weeks I’m so busy at work that when I get home I find that I have nothing to say, and prefer not to post anything.
I must come clean to let you know that I have, more than once, posted something, just for posting something. If you read my blog on a regular basis or you are subscribed, you know what I’m talking about. Please let me take this chance to apologize about those minutes of your life that I cannot give you back.
This year, I received more emails from people reading my blog and asking questions; if the question was already asked by another email, I would reply that on blog instead of an email back. Something very important to me is to see the timeline of my blog, see where I was a year ago and what kind of technology was I working.
I do see an evolution at my blog, maybe the learning curve is longer than other blogs, but is a path I’m enjoying. So please, do keep the emails coming as from them I build the content.
Templates? Promotion tools? Are we still talking about blogging? I haven’t promoted my blog, because I don’t know or I did not search ways to promote my blog. Right now my blog is on the Microsoft ASP.NET blog roll and readers come from there or from Goggle searches.
Mainly I talk about AJAX, ASP.NET and C#, so my audients are geeks and nerds like me. I don’t think a bumper sticker can help my blog to be read by more people. I do not know how to promote a blog, blogs should be promoted by peers. That’s how I find out about other bloggers.
Blogging is a way of communication that allows anybody to voice their opinion with a simple mouse click. I do believe blogging is going to develop to a more professional and structured “art.”
Labels: Fine Art of Blogging
posted by Shirazi @ 8:00 AM,
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Wheel in the Sky Keeps on Turning...
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Paula Neal Mooney
I blog for personal fulfillment, a career and to earn a living! A blog to me is a vehicle for expressing opinions, gathering like minds, a reason not to kill yourself. Mostly I follow my gut and Google Hot Trends to pick up topics to write about. I seek out hotly-searched for, new and fresh topics, then SEO the hell outta them...Blogging can change lives. It's a new and important world whereby an elite few no longer control the news.
For making money see Paula's List of Blogger Salaries... or Google it!
Labels: Fine Art of Blogging
posted by Shirazi @ 9:36 PM,
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Hari-Yupuya to Harappa
Sonia Saleem
Harappa or “Hari-Yupuya” as mentioned in the “Rig Veda” marked the height of urban development of the Indus valley civilization at 2600 B.C.E till 1900 B.C.E. for 700 years. Harappa is located in the present day province of Punjab, near the city of Sahiwal, and in its full glory was the perfect proto-type of a fully developed city of the Indus valley civilization. It was the perfect reflection of the kind of organized thought which the Rig Veda emphasized. [Wheeler, Kenoyer].[go over page25 at the end].
Harappa has the same humble beginnings as any other large city. It began as a village settlement, gradually growing over the centuries to accommodate renowned craft industries, world accessible markets, and clean residential areas and cemeteries. Harappa is 128,800 hinterland, and 150 hectares in area. Harappa city was so developed and central to the Indus Empire that the name Harappa became synonymous with the dominant culture at the time, followed by all the other cities in the Indus region, right down to Kutch on the coast in present day India. [Rehman, Kenoyer]. Accordingly, the ruins of Harappa are three miles in circumference. The ruins of this city are split up into mounds, labeled from mound A, to G by archeologists, making points easily identifiable. The mounds were common to all Indus cities, and the higher the mound, the more central and important that area was in the city. For example the citadel mound was almost always the highest mound. This archetype Indus city was built on the east-west, north –south axis, and was surrounded by four city walls with a large entrance gate on the western wall.
The gate was 2.8 meters wide, and 3 to 4 meters high, [Kenoyer], fixed with rooms or look out posts at the top. [Kenoyer]. Inside the gateway there was a grand space for a market making it easier for goods to be transported in and checked, taxed and sold. The Ox and cart was the method used to transport these goods, and the entrance was just big enough to allow one cart in and out at a time. Once inside the city gate, and past the market space, a network of roads led in to the centre of the city. The north road led to all the shell and agate workshops, the west road lead to the copper-craft workshops. Evidence of a caravanserai is found outside, and south of the main city gate. It contained houses, drains, baths, a wel,l and stables for horses. [Kenoyer 55].
It was a complete and accommodating stop for traveling traders and merchants, as Harappa was an integral part of an ancient trade route. Traders in fact helped the infra-structure flourish in the region. Kenoyer mentions that a modern road used at present outside of the city gates, near the old site of the caravanserai was in all likelihood laid out 4500 years ago by Harappan traders. This caravanserai was used for post transfers along the route as well, serving Lahore and Multan. This caravanserai was kept in use for thousands of years later by traveling traders, again verifying the fact that the city of Harappa was situated in a strategic position for trade routes.
A second gate was located 200 meters east of the first one. This gate led into a suburb of the city which also produced ornaments, crafts and other artifacts for trade. This gate also had a caravanserai approximately 50 meters south outside, to accommodate the traders who came to this part of the city. [Kenoyer 55].
There is no evidence of a palace or a huge residency for a monarch or ruler in the centre of the city. However there is a large building amongst many discernible houses in the northern suburb of the city. But it is thought that it was a storehouse, as there are many circular work-platforms upon which craft work, and ceramics were made. [Kenoyer 55]. According to the map of Harrapa, made by Sir Mortimer Wheeler, besides the carvanserai’s, the granaries, cemeteries, and the workmen’s quarters were outside the city walls. From the map it also seems like the western wall contained most of the gates accessible to the city, as well as the main entrance. The expansion of Harappa was gradual, and migrants from other cities, and nations were not unusual. However one culture was dominant in Harappa, and in fact Harappa culture dominated the rest of the cities too. This ensured peace and harmony throughout the Indus region. Even before Harappa became the epicenter of culture, peace and harmony dominated the Indus region.
Harappa or “Hari-Yupuya” as mentioned in the “Rig Veda” marked the height of urban development of the Indus valley civilization at 2600 B.C.E till 1900 B.C.E. for 700 years. Harappa is located in the present day province of Punjab, near the city of Sahiwal, and in its full glory was the perfect proto-type of a fully developed city of the Indus valley civilization. It was the perfect reflection of the kind of organized thought which the Rig Veda emphasized. [Wheeler, Kenoyer].[go over page25 at the end].
Harappa has the same humble beginnings as any other large city. It began as a village settlement, gradually growing over the centuries to accommodate renowned craft industries, world accessible markets, and clean residential areas and cemeteries. Harappa is 128,800 hinterland, and 150 hectares in area. Harappa city was so developed and central to the Indus Empire that the name Harappa became synonymous with the dominant culture at the time, followed by all the other cities in the Indus region, right down to Kutch on the coast in present day India. [Rehman, Kenoyer]. Accordingly, the ruins of Harappa are three miles in circumference. The ruins of this city are split up into mounds, labeled from mound A, to G by archeologists, making points easily identifiable. The mounds were common to all Indus cities, and the higher the mound, the more central and important that area was in the city. For example the citadel mound was almost always the highest mound. This archetype Indus city was built on the east-west, north –south axis, and was surrounded by four city walls with a large entrance gate on the western wall.
The gate was 2.8 meters wide, and 3 to 4 meters high, [Kenoyer], fixed with rooms or look out posts at the top. [Kenoyer]. Inside the gateway there was a grand space for a market making it easier for goods to be transported in and checked, taxed and sold. The Ox and cart was the method used to transport these goods, and the entrance was just big enough to allow one cart in and out at a time. Once inside the city gate, and past the market space, a network of roads led in to the centre of the city. The north road led to all the shell and agate workshops, the west road lead to the copper-craft workshops. Evidence of a caravanserai is found outside, and south of the main city gate. It contained houses, drains, baths, a wel,l and stables for horses. [Kenoyer 55].
It was a complete and accommodating stop for traveling traders and merchants, as Harappa was an integral part of an ancient trade route. Traders in fact helped the infra-structure flourish in the region. Kenoyer mentions that a modern road used at present outside of the city gates, near the old site of the caravanserai was in all likelihood laid out 4500 years ago by Harappan traders. This caravanserai was used for post transfers along the route as well, serving Lahore and Multan. This caravanserai was kept in use for thousands of years later by traveling traders, again verifying the fact that the city of Harappa was situated in a strategic position for trade routes.
A second gate was located 200 meters east of the first one. This gate led into a suburb of the city which also produced ornaments, crafts and other artifacts for trade. This gate also had a caravanserai approximately 50 meters south outside, to accommodate the traders who came to this part of the city. [Kenoyer 55].
There is no evidence of a palace or a huge residency for a monarch or ruler in the centre of the city. However there is a large building amongst many discernible houses in the northern suburb of the city. But it is thought that it was a storehouse, as there are many circular work-platforms upon which craft work, and ceramics were made. [Kenoyer 55]. According to the map of Harrapa, made by Sir Mortimer Wheeler, besides the carvanserai’s, the granaries, cemeteries, and the workmen’s quarters were outside the city walls. From the map it also seems like the western wall contained most of the gates accessible to the city, as well as the main entrance. The expansion of Harappa was gradual, and migrants from other cities, and nations were not unusual. However one culture was dominant in Harappa, and in fact Harappa culture dominated the rest of the cities too. This ensured peace and harmony throughout the Indus region. Even before Harappa became the epicenter of culture, peace and harmony dominated the Indus region.
Non-violence, even in the form of self-defense, was a part of Indus religion, thus all invasions or migrations were not resisted, nor were there any clashes amongst tribes. The gates of the city were not constructed to counter any kind of military attack, nor were the walls made for self-defense. Walls surrounding mounds with in the city just demarcated different areas. [Kenoyer 56]. An imminent threat of war was not even an idea or a thought in the Indus valley. A uniform culture propagated peace. The city catered specifically to the smooth running of trade, and business, another integral of Indus religion.
Mohenjo-daro, or “Mound of the Dead” is thought to be similarly built to Harappa as all Indus cities possessed a common design reflecting Vedic, organized thought. It can also be prided in being the first city in the world to have a full-fledged draining system. A vast draining system for a whole city was invented in the land of the Indus.
The city of Mohenjo-daro is 169,260 sq km hinterland, and is 250 hectares. [Kenoyer]. This also suggests that Mohenjo-daro is older than Harappa. However, the remains of Mohenjo-daro are not all complete as they are at the excavated site of Harappa. There are no physical remains of walls and gateways, but the size of the foundations of these walls surrounding the city suggest that these walls were probably grander than those of Harappa. Mohenjo-daro was frequented by floods, which is the main reason why it did not flourish in the same way that Harappa did, and was probably the cause of its ultimate destruction. The eastern citadel at the time was situated very close to the Indus River. Flooding in this region is still a concern and a problem, even though the nearest branch of the river has shifted 3 miles away to the east. [Wheeler].
A Buddhist stupa and monastery were found on top of the western citadel, and were built there several centuries after the demise of the Indus civilization, in 200 B.C.E. Between the complete demise of the Indus civilization, and the spread of Buddhism, no other city as big as Mohenjo-daro existed in this region. Mohenjo-daro was thus built as a grid, organized on a north-south, east-west axis. It was built as a slope, obviously to counter the floods. The western citadel was the highest mound, which gradually ran down east, making the eastern citadel the lowest mound. Similar to Harappa, the highest mound marked the more important, central part of the city, where dignitaries and rulers lived, and probably was the hub for trade in this part of the Indus Empire.
Harappa and Mohenjo-daro were the capital cites of the Indus civilization, however the Indus River was not the only water-way which was included in this civilization. The Ghaggar-Hakra River was the other river feeding the Indus valley civilization, but dried up over the centuries to become the Cholistan desert. It ran through the areas of present day Punjab and Sindh, parallel and east of the Indus. The capital cities, and the cities of Ganweriwala, Rakhigarhi, were situated on different points of the banks of the Indus, fundamentally to be a part of the trade routes. The latter two covered only 80 hectares each in area, but were just as important for trade. Dholavira covered 100 hectares in area, and was the most furthest away from the centers, but was situated on the Rann of Kutch, which is now present day Indian Gujarat. Thus it served as a good base to import and export goods beyond the Arabian Sea, and fish, and sea shells found to be supplied and channeled around the Indus civilization. These smaller cities were built much in the same organized, grid like manner as the capitals. Indus architecture can be defined as logical, neat, functional, simple, and strives for order and organization. [Kenoyer, Wheeler]. Religion and trade routes were evidently the crux and core of the existence of these cities.
“Life is one long process of getting tired.” [Samuel Butler.] A territorial shift of Indus culture to the Ganges region; .
All things, great or small must come to an end. A great, thriving, and peaceful civilization such as the Indus civilization surprisingly did come to an end. It is thought that environmental changes, and tectonic plate shifts under the earth helped in its demise. Natural causes suggest an evolution, a slow and steady gradual change from the center of trade commerce shifting east to other major water systems in the sub-continent. The entire civilization shifted east, and south.
According to Sir Mortimer Wheeler, the exact cause is ambiguous. He says “Over-ambitious wars, barbarian invasions, dynastic or capitalistic intrigue, climate, the malarial mosquito have been urged severally in one context or another as an over-all cause.” [126, Wheeler.] Thus there is not a single cause for the demise of the Indus civilization. Perhaps it is safe to say that as a civilization that describes a population, it did not really demise, but moved. As a race, the Indus civilization is alive, and has evolved, and the people are known as Pakistani’s today. A history of the Indus civilization as a race is a history of shift and change, but gradual change and evolution, not dramatic upheavals or revolution. The Indus people did not die off. They just simply moved around the vast sub-continent due to unavoidable environmental circumstances. And since the time of the Aryan invasions, the inter-play with merchants from around the Gulf and Mesopotamia, and the rest of the sub-continent, the Indus valley race has always been subjected to changes. It was an area that primarily welcomed foreign influences, for strong trade ties. Racial intermingling and foreign influences were natural features of the Indus valley civilization B.C.E. Vedism developed with Aryan interjection, which eventually developed in to Brahamism, Jainism, and Buddhism. Trade made the Indus region famous, and attractive to foreigners. A history of the Indus region is a history of invasions.
As an Empire, as a fantastic, old, and rooted geo-economical force, the Indus valley civilization did come to an end. Mohenjo-daro was in all probability named “Mound of the dead”, because it was a city that was perpetually flooding, causing reoccurring destruction and reconstruction. There was a point where the population thought it wiser to move in the end, instead of reconstructing. The floods were as frequent as annual; the River Indus would swell each year due to rain and melting snow. It gradually became increasingly undesirable, unsafe and completely uninhabitable. Evidence of extreme flooding was still apparent as silt-clay deposits lay over the entire city; over the debris at the time of its excavation. Underneath the mass slush of clay were buried layers upon layers of brick platforms upon which the residents of the city kept rebuilding their homes and shops after a recent flood. [Wheeler]. According to research done by Dr. Dales in 1960, sea trade had actually stopped along the Makran Coast with the Persian Gulf around 1900 B.C.E. because of frequent flood-destruction making Mohenjo-daro unfit for international trade, and markets. This meant that the demise of Mohenjo-daro was inevitable. [Wheeler]. In fact residents of the city who could afford to move and rebuild their lives in other cities had found it more feasible to leave, consequently turning the affluent city of Mohenjo-daro in to a desperate slum. The focus of trade thus shifted to Harappa and the Rann of Kutch and its urban city Dholavira became the sea route for Persian trade. Harappan success was thus also inevitable.
Harappa did not demise as a city, as natural calamity did not hit its path. However, the importance of Harappa as the hallmark of Indus culture did shift.
It is mentioned above repeatedly that Harappan culture defined Indus culture as a whole, by 2600 B.C.E onwards. This period was marked by the height of the Indus region’s success as a flourishing, and progressive civilization. However 1900 B.C.E onwards saw a gradual shift of the territorial centre of culture from the Indus region to the middle, the Ganges River region. This was also known as the late Harappan phase. Indus culture, also known as Harappan culture shifted a long with its people, giving space for it to evolve into a new civilization, by accumulating new beliefs. Harappan unity broke down in to fragmented, smaller societies, spread-out as far as Afghanistan, and Central Asia in the north-west, and the Ganga-Yamuna Rivers in the south-east. Opportunity cost? Or just plain opportunity? Buddhism evolved around 600 B.C.E and spread though-out the sub-continent, whilst continuing to endorse the importance of trade. Most traders and merchants were Buddhists, as this knowledge system believed in equality, as opposed to the Aryan tradition of social hierarchy. Trade routes thus spread, resulting in more invasions, more political upheavals, more trade, more migrations, and a spread of Buddhism. Most caravanserais were also Buddhist monasteries, where Buddhist monks were ready to serve the weary traveling merchant by 300-200 B.C.E. Alexander the Great arrived in 326 B.C.E. only to begin a new era of culture which was a mixture of Greek and Buddhist culture known as Ghandara culture. Indus culture had evolved in to a more mature school of thought, as well as holding on to the importance of trade, and was more wide-spread. It allowed for the development of areas, such as Gujurat, and other water systems, such as The Yamuna-Ganga systems by being included in the ever expanding trade-routes. [Kenoyer].
Other smaller cities and villages around the Indus region demised simply because of a shift in the direction of the mighty river, causing most river beds to simply dry out completely. This left agricultural development in the pits. People had to move east. Besides trade, and agriculture, Indus art and craft practices were also kept alive. Pottery technology flourished, and saw more animals being included on these pots for decoration. It thus became easy to tell how far Indus culture spread and evolved. [Kenoyer].
This new tradition came to be known as the Indo-Gangetic tradition, a very valuable link which has determined the course of history through-out the sub-continent, and still defines the culture of these two regions today. This link marked a new level of development for the settling communities by 300 B.C.E. However, it was a new kind of development which saw the rise of small city-states run by monarchies, armies, metal weapons used for combat, horse-drawn chariots instead of ox-pulled ones, and of course, politics became the game of power.
The Indo-Gangetic link unarguably defines the main-stream cultural atmosphere of Pakistan today. It is intrinsically a territorial link; the people of the Indus River established it with the Ganga River, out of the sheer human instinct to survive. The Indus valley civilization did not demise in entirety. It lost a part of itself in the form of the city of Mohenjo-daro, as well as smaller cities in the south, and Gulf trade along the Makran coast. But by shifting east, it gained another water system which helped develop Indus valley culture, thought, religion, and trade. The history of Indus culture is a history of territorial shift. It naturalizes the idea of diverse ethnicities, not only existing together, but inter-breeding to make new ethnicities. All this has taken place over the course of 5000 years, and in one land. To ignore this, is to ignore our fundamental cultural history. Our culture is an indigenous culture by virtue of our changing landscape. The people of the Indus influenced the Ganges River region primarily, and not vice-versa. The culture that is practiced today is the culture that has been practiced over the centuries in the Indus valley. It is safe to say that the history of the sub-continent began in the Indus region.
Mohenjo-daro, or “Mound of the Dead” is thought to be similarly built to Harappa as all Indus cities possessed a common design reflecting Vedic, organized thought. It can also be prided in being the first city in the world to have a full-fledged draining system. A vast draining system for a whole city was invented in the land of the Indus.
The city of Mohenjo-daro is 169,260 sq km hinterland, and is 250 hectares. [Kenoyer]. This also suggests that Mohenjo-daro is older than Harappa. However, the remains of Mohenjo-daro are not all complete as they are at the excavated site of Harappa. There are no physical remains of walls and gateways, but the size of the foundations of these walls surrounding the city suggest that these walls were probably grander than those of Harappa. Mohenjo-daro was frequented by floods, which is the main reason why it did not flourish in the same way that Harappa did, and was probably the cause of its ultimate destruction. The eastern citadel at the time was situated very close to the Indus River. Flooding in this region is still a concern and a problem, even though the nearest branch of the river has shifted 3 miles away to the east. [Wheeler].
A Buddhist stupa and monastery were found on top of the western citadel, and were built there several centuries after the demise of the Indus civilization, in 200 B.C.E. Between the complete demise of the Indus civilization, and the spread of Buddhism, no other city as big as Mohenjo-daro existed in this region. Mohenjo-daro was thus built as a grid, organized on a north-south, east-west axis. It was built as a slope, obviously to counter the floods. The western citadel was the highest mound, which gradually ran down east, making the eastern citadel the lowest mound. Similar to Harappa, the highest mound marked the more important, central part of the city, where dignitaries and rulers lived, and probably was the hub for trade in this part of the Indus Empire.
Harappa and Mohenjo-daro were the capital cites of the Indus civilization, however the Indus River was not the only water-way which was included in this civilization. The Ghaggar-Hakra River was the other river feeding the Indus valley civilization, but dried up over the centuries to become the Cholistan desert. It ran through the areas of present day Punjab and Sindh, parallel and east of the Indus. The capital cities, and the cities of Ganweriwala, Rakhigarhi, were situated on different points of the banks of the Indus, fundamentally to be a part of the trade routes. The latter two covered only 80 hectares each in area, but were just as important for trade. Dholavira covered 100 hectares in area, and was the most furthest away from the centers, but was situated on the Rann of Kutch, which is now present day Indian Gujarat. Thus it served as a good base to import and export goods beyond the Arabian Sea, and fish, and sea shells found to be supplied and channeled around the Indus civilization. These smaller cities were built much in the same organized, grid like manner as the capitals. Indus architecture can be defined as logical, neat, functional, simple, and strives for order and organization. [Kenoyer, Wheeler]. Religion and trade routes were evidently the crux and core of the existence of these cities.
“Life is one long process of getting tired.” [Samuel Butler.] A territorial shift of Indus culture to the Ganges region; .
All things, great or small must come to an end. A great, thriving, and peaceful civilization such as the Indus civilization surprisingly did come to an end. It is thought that environmental changes, and tectonic plate shifts under the earth helped in its demise. Natural causes suggest an evolution, a slow and steady gradual change from the center of trade commerce shifting east to other major water systems in the sub-continent. The entire civilization shifted east, and south.
According to Sir Mortimer Wheeler, the exact cause is ambiguous. He says “Over-ambitious wars, barbarian invasions, dynastic or capitalistic intrigue, climate, the malarial mosquito have been urged severally in one context or another as an over-all cause.” [126, Wheeler.] Thus there is not a single cause for the demise of the Indus civilization. Perhaps it is safe to say that as a civilization that describes a population, it did not really demise, but moved. As a race, the Indus civilization is alive, and has evolved, and the people are known as Pakistani’s today. A history of the Indus civilization as a race is a history of shift and change, but gradual change and evolution, not dramatic upheavals or revolution. The Indus people did not die off. They just simply moved around the vast sub-continent due to unavoidable environmental circumstances. And since the time of the Aryan invasions, the inter-play with merchants from around the Gulf and Mesopotamia, and the rest of the sub-continent, the Indus valley race has always been subjected to changes. It was an area that primarily welcomed foreign influences, for strong trade ties. Racial intermingling and foreign influences were natural features of the Indus valley civilization B.C.E. Vedism developed with Aryan interjection, which eventually developed in to Brahamism, Jainism, and Buddhism. Trade made the Indus region famous, and attractive to foreigners. A history of the Indus region is a history of invasions.
As an Empire, as a fantastic, old, and rooted geo-economical force, the Indus valley civilization did come to an end. Mohenjo-daro was in all probability named “Mound of the dead”, because it was a city that was perpetually flooding, causing reoccurring destruction and reconstruction. There was a point where the population thought it wiser to move in the end, instead of reconstructing. The floods were as frequent as annual; the River Indus would swell each year due to rain and melting snow. It gradually became increasingly undesirable, unsafe and completely uninhabitable. Evidence of extreme flooding was still apparent as silt-clay deposits lay over the entire city; over the debris at the time of its excavation. Underneath the mass slush of clay were buried layers upon layers of brick platforms upon which the residents of the city kept rebuilding their homes and shops after a recent flood. [Wheeler]. According to research done by Dr. Dales in 1960, sea trade had actually stopped along the Makran Coast with the Persian Gulf around 1900 B.C.E. because of frequent flood-destruction making Mohenjo-daro unfit for international trade, and markets. This meant that the demise of Mohenjo-daro was inevitable. [Wheeler]. In fact residents of the city who could afford to move and rebuild their lives in other cities had found it more feasible to leave, consequently turning the affluent city of Mohenjo-daro in to a desperate slum. The focus of trade thus shifted to Harappa and the Rann of Kutch and its urban city Dholavira became the sea route for Persian trade. Harappan success was thus also inevitable.
Harappa did not demise as a city, as natural calamity did not hit its path. However, the importance of Harappa as the hallmark of Indus culture did shift.
It is mentioned above repeatedly that Harappan culture defined Indus culture as a whole, by 2600 B.C.E onwards. This period was marked by the height of the Indus region’s success as a flourishing, and progressive civilization. However 1900 B.C.E onwards saw a gradual shift of the territorial centre of culture from the Indus region to the middle, the Ganges River region. This was also known as the late Harappan phase. Indus culture, also known as Harappan culture shifted a long with its people, giving space for it to evolve into a new civilization, by accumulating new beliefs. Harappan unity broke down in to fragmented, smaller societies, spread-out as far as Afghanistan, and Central Asia in the north-west, and the Ganga-Yamuna Rivers in the south-east. Opportunity cost? Or just plain opportunity? Buddhism evolved around 600 B.C.E and spread though-out the sub-continent, whilst continuing to endorse the importance of trade. Most traders and merchants were Buddhists, as this knowledge system believed in equality, as opposed to the Aryan tradition of social hierarchy. Trade routes thus spread, resulting in more invasions, more political upheavals, more trade, more migrations, and a spread of Buddhism. Most caravanserais were also Buddhist monasteries, where Buddhist monks were ready to serve the weary traveling merchant by 300-200 B.C.E. Alexander the Great arrived in 326 B.C.E. only to begin a new era of culture which was a mixture of Greek and Buddhist culture known as Ghandara culture. Indus culture had evolved in to a more mature school of thought, as well as holding on to the importance of trade, and was more wide-spread. It allowed for the development of areas, such as Gujurat, and other water systems, such as The Yamuna-Ganga systems by being included in the ever expanding trade-routes. [Kenoyer].
Other smaller cities and villages around the Indus region demised simply because of a shift in the direction of the mighty river, causing most river beds to simply dry out completely. This left agricultural development in the pits. People had to move east. Besides trade, and agriculture, Indus art and craft practices were also kept alive. Pottery technology flourished, and saw more animals being included on these pots for decoration. It thus became easy to tell how far Indus culture spread and evolved. [Kenoyer].
This new tradition came to be known as the Indo-Gangetic tradition, a very valuable link which has determined the course of history through-out the sub-continent, and still defines the culture of these two regions today. This link marked a new level of development for the settling communities by 300 B.C.E. However, it was a new kind of development which saw the rise of small city-states run by monarchies, armies, metal weapons used for combat, horse-drawn chariots instead of ox-pulled ones, and of course, politics became the game of power.
The Indo-Gangetic link unarguably defines the main-stream cultural atmosphere of Pakistan today. It is intrinsically a territorial link; the people of the Indus River established it with the Ganga River, out of the sheer human instinct to survive. The Indus valley civilization did not demise in entirety. It lost a part of itself in the form of the city of Mohenjo-daro, as well as smaller cities in the south, and Gulf trade along the Makran coast. But by shifting east, it gained another water system which helped develop Indus valley culture, thought, religion, and trade. The history of Indus culture is a history of territorial shift. It naturalizes the idea of diverse ethnicities, not only existing together, but inter-breeding to make new ethnicities. All this has taken place over the course of 5000 years, and in one land. To ignore this, is to ignore our fundamental cultural history. Our culture is an indigenous culture by virtue of our changing landscape. The people of the Indus influenced the Ganges River region primarily, and not vice-versa. The culture that is practiced today is the culture that has been practiced over the centuries in the Indus valley. It is safe to say that the history of the sub-continent began in the Indus region.
posted by Shirazi @ 12:27 PM,
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Greenland Project
The idea for the project originated in the year 2002 and is based on the location of the west to east greenland. At first there were various contacts between Narsalik and Qaqortoq and in 2006 a meeting with the director of the group in greenland was held. The meeting took place in the south of the island.
The pre-conditions for the project were good due to the parallels in the locations as well as the income generating factors sheep breeding and tourism.
After the activities came to a standstill and difficulties regarding deadlines and financing emerged but also as first orders for the Inuit-Dolls were received, the project was revived by arranging the finance and a visit to Kulusuk was undertaken in September 2007.
Complete manufacturing of the Inuit-Dolls is also not feasible here as the manufacturing of the naked doll would be too expensive here. For this purpose the doll bodies from Pakistan are used here. However, the hair and skin type as well as the face form correspond to the Greenland.
The pre-conditions for the project were good due to the parallels in the locations as well as the income generating factors sheep breeding and tourism.
After the activities came to a standstill and difficulties regarding deadlines and financing emerged but also as first orders for the Inuit-Dolls were received, the project was revived by arranging the finance and a visit to Kulusuk was undertaken in September 2007.
Complete manufacturing of the Inuit-Dolls is also not feasible here as the manufacturing of the naked doll would be too expensive here. For this purpose the doll bodies from Pakistan are used here. However, the hair and skin type as well as the face form correspond to the Greenland.
posted by Shirazi @ 11:00 AM,
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change therapy
I blog because I like writing, because I feel at home in cyberspace, and because my readers seem to think I have something to say. I blog because I like the informality of blogging. I blog because a blog is a perfect addition to both my virtual and my face-to-face psychotherapy practice. And I like that some blogging posts can turn into conversations.Whereas my web site is my virtual office, my blog is more like my virtual kitchen. That's where new things get tried out, and where a little cybersoup gets spilled once in a while. It's where lots of conversations happen, and some of them, like this one about depression, turn out to be really important.
Picking topics to blog about day after day is not difficult at all. As a therapist, I am trained to see the human experience in pretty much every event, no matter how big or small. People all around me, both in my professional and my private life, constantly experience joy, sadness, confusion, loss, laughter, transformation … such a long list, and all I have to do is watch, think about it a little bit, and write about it. Not difficult at all!
What do I do about blog promotion? Oh, I get on the phone for an hour each day and beg everyone I know to pleeeeeeease read my blog! No – just kidding. I like to think that writing good content is the best promotion I can do. Being able to give my readers something interesting to spend a few minutes on, maybe even make them think, pleases me no end.
I was giddy when, after finally installing Google Analytics, I saw my first traffic spike, with this post on the 10 paradoxes of creative people. It also sparked some interesting conversations.
Another blog entry that gets a lot of readers is one about child pornography, entitled " kiddie porn". Because of the title, I suspect it attracts quite a few readers who may have a taste for child pornography, and I hope that some of them, after reading this article, are awakened to think a little about the suffering that is caused by exploiting children in such a way.
Of course, what makes me really happy is when I am able to help people directly, such as when they use the goals report in Wheel of Life: The rounder, the better.
Blogging, to me, is also about being inspired by and connecting to other bloggers. High points happen when I get all fired up by bloggers like Genkaku or Hugo Schwyzer, and when I have wonderful conversations with other bloggers, such as online on Twitter or offline with my Vancouver Bloggers Meetup friends.
Labels: Fine Art of Blogging
posted by Shirazi @ 8:00 AM,
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Driving Courtesies in Lahore
Friday, May 23, 2008
The word is out and it is saying that Lahore has become one of the most popular tourist destinations in Asia. Known for its beautiful gardens, exquisite fountains, delicious cuisines, and rich heritage of architecture, art and music, Lahore is once again reinventing itself. This time it is changing into a crowded habitat. This second largest city of Pakistan and fourteenth largest city in the world has unique driving habits.
Few drivers have this well-known style: they will always drives at a speed less than 40 kilometres per hour along the middle of recently beautified, recently widened Lahore roads, and forget the distinctly marked speed lanes. They drive without looking left or right as if mesmerized by the taillights or what ever is written on the back screens of the vehicles they are following closely. Surely they feel safest but what happens when one drives slowly in fast lane? The fast lanes remain always clogged, and the only way to escape a 'fast lane blockade' with confidence is to drive fast in slow lane, which happens to be empty: violating universal traffic rules, negating right of way even to the cyclists and pedestrians and or causing accidents. This is one of the worst driving habits.
It is free-for-all society once we take to the road. Traffic police has placed signs at different roads that read, "Drive beautifully on beautiful roads." How seriously drivers take such advice can be seen while driving on any city road. Such traditional nuisances as stop signs, Silence zones, traffic lights, Zebra crossing markings, and lane divisions are, for the most part, generally not observed.
Stand at the traffic lights in any square and you can see auto rickshaws and motorcyclists moving in and out of the gaps between parked vehicles like cockroaches. One wonders what is it that keeps the city's traffic going, which spills all over the road, irrespective of traffic dividers placed near some of the busy squares or uninterested traffic cop standing in some obscure corner of a square waiting for his duty hours to end. Every body stops as near the white line as possible without the due respect for the traffic that is to turn left and as per rules the turning left should always remain open. I have friends who live in Lahore and who refuse to drive here. And many foreigners leave this historic city, shaken and stirred, asking questions mainly about traffic. Because only he can understand the driving habits who has lived in Lahore for enough years.
Why do the drivers step on the brakes when they can see a green light and slows down, turning the entire stream of traffic behind them to a crawl and then suddenly accelerate forward in a sudden ejaculation of speed just as the light turns yellowish-brown? No one knows nor can any one predict before it actually happens. But what happens? Bumpers crash into bumpers, tyres burn as rubber grates on tarmac, a few screeches, and some other motorcyclist suddenly appear and move on making best of the situation. And, all those who cannot move on immediately keep blowing horns and keep pressing accelerators emitting toxic fumes and clouds of soot in the process. Their feet ache in neurotic beat between the clutch and the brake pedals it appears.
Karachi - Peshawar main railway line passes through the centre of the city. Besides goods' trains 24 passenger trains pass over the main line daily. There are many crossing on the railway line without overhead bridges. Mixed traffic of the city has to stop on either side of the line whenever the crossings are closed to pass the trains. Sometimes the crossings are closed to allow two trains one after the other. Every one always seems in a hurry at these crossings. In the absence of any traffic management on these choke points, traffic remains blocked even after the trains have passed.
Sometimes one feels it more than other times; rush hour in Lahore. Traffic police insist on having roadblocks and lane separators during peak traffic hours in the mornings and afternoon? Not to catch criminals or terrorists of course. It only causes problem for the citizens who happen to be driving on roads.
Lahore has some of the best roads in Pakistani cities. Lahore's class structure is also reflected in driving scene on roads: big cars, sleek cars, new and old models and Land cruisers to old vintage and coughing smaller cars. But come onto the less privileged roads and the byways. Or come to the roads inside housing colonies. Why does someone have 'planned and constructed' speed breakers at unexpected places, without any marking, and surely on public expense? These 'sleeping policemen' are hell for the suspension, and high enough to perversely grate the underside of any car. Motorcyclists and cars suddenly appear out of side lanes at breakneck speed, without looking either left or right, and nonchalantly make a wide curve? It is like a real life video game as people come onto the roads.
The traffic management has to be improved not only on the main roads but also in those parts of the city where no VIP passes. Muhammad Munir who loves to drive in the city says, "Driving scene in Lahore will improve if someone can insure that driving licenses are issued only to those who meet the criteria fixed for the purpose." Ideally the heavy traffic should not enter the city during day. The animal transport should also be segregated and restricted to specific areas if it cannot be banned. Moreover, the auto rickshaws should not be allowed on the main roads. And, there should be more places reserved only for pedestrians. But this management may only be possible when the city is given a good inter city public transport system on all possible routes. Remember the double-deckers that used to ply the roads of Lahore! Introduce and manage the public transport system for people to move about more frequently and commerce will manage the rest.
What about the driving courtesies and manners? Who can change that!
Few drivers have this well-known style: they will always drives at a speed less than 40 kilometres per hour along the middle of recently beautified, recently widened Lahore roads, and forget the distinctly marked speed lanes. They drive without looking left or right as if mesmerized by the taillights or what ever is written on the back screens of the vehicles they are following closely. Surely they feel safest but what happens when one drives slowly in fast lane? The fast lanes remain always clogged, and the only way to escape a 'fast lane blockade' with confidence is to drive fast in slow lane, which happens to be empty: violating universal traffic rules, negating right of way even to the cyclists and pedestrians and or causing accidents. This is one of the worst driving habits.
It is free-for-all society once we take to the road. Traffic police has placed signs at different roads that read, "Drive beautifully on beautiful roads." How seriously drivers take such advice can be seen while driving on any city road. Such traditional nuisances as stop signs, Silence zones, traffic lights, Zebra crossing markings, and lane divisions are, for the most part, generally not observed.
Stand at the traffic lights in any square and you can see auto rickshaws and motorcyclists moving in and out of the gaps between parked vehicles like cockroaches. One wonders what is it that keeps the city's traffic going, which spills all over the road, irrespective of traffic dividers placed near some of the busy squares or uninterested traffic cop standing in some obscure corner of a square waiting for his duty hours to end. Every body stops as near the white line as possible without the due respect for the traffic that is to turn left and as per rules the turning left should always remain open. I have friends who live in Lahore and who refuse to drive here. And many foreigners leave this historic city, shaken and stirred, asking questions mainly about traffic. Because only he can understand the driving habits who has lived in Lahore for enough years.
Why do the drivers step on the brakes when they can see a green light and slows down, turning the entire stream of traffic behind them to a crawl and then suddenly accelerate forward in a sudden ejaculation of speed just as the light turns yellowish-brown? No one knows nor can any one predict before it actually happens. But what happens? Bumpers crash into bumpers, tyres burn as rubber grates on tarmac, a few screeches, and some other motorcyclist suddenly appear and move on making best of the situation. And, all those who cannot move on immediately keep blowing horns and keep pressing accelerators emitting toxic fumes and clouds of soot in the process. Their feet ache in neurotic beat between the clutch and the brake pedals it appears.
Karachi - Peshawar main railway line passes through the centre of the city. Besides goods' trains 24 passenger trains pass over the main line daily. There are many crossing on the railway line without overhead bridges. Mixed traffic of the city has to stop on either side of the line whenever the crossings are closed to pass the trains. Sometimes the crossings are closed to allow two trains one after the other. Every one always seems in a hurry at these crossings. In the absence of any traffic management on these choke points, traffic remains blocked even after the trains have passed.
Sometimes one feels it more than other times; rush hour in Lahore. Traffic police insist on having roadblocks and lane separators during peak traffic hours in the mornings and afternoon? Not to catch criminals or terrorists of course. It only causes problem for the citizens who happen to be driving on roads.
Lahore has some of the best roads in Pakistani cities. Lahore's class structure is also reflected in driving scene on roads: big cars, sleek cars, new and old models and Land cruisers to old vintage and coughing smaller cars. But come onto the less privileged roads and the byways. Or come to the roads inside housing colonies. Why does someone have 'planned and constructed' speed breakers at unexpected places, without any marking, and surely on public expense? These 'sleeping policemen' are hell for the suspension, and high enough to perversely grate the underside of any car. Motorcyclists and cars suddenly appear out of side lanes at breakneck speed, without looking either left or right, and nonchalantly make a wide curve? It is like a real life video game as people come onto the roads.
The traffic management has to be improved not only on the main roads but also in those parts of the city where no VIP passes. Muhammad Munir who loves to drive in the city says, "Driving scene in Lahore will improve if someone can insure that driving licenses are issued only to those who meet the criteria fixed for the purpose." Ideally the heavy traffic should not enter the city during day. The animal transport should also be segregated and restricted to specific areas if it cannot be banned. Moreover, the auto rickshaws should not be allowed on the main roads. And, there should be more places reserved only for pedestrians. But this management may only be possible when the city is given a good inter city public transport system on all possible routes. Remember the double-deckers that used to ply the roads of Lahore! Introduce and manage the public transport system for people to move about more frequently and commerce will manage the rest.
What about the driving courtesies and manners? Who can change that!
posted by Shirazi @ 11:20 AM,
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Intel vs OLPC
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Cubano
Nicholas Negroponte, the founder OLPC has been involved in a war of words with Craig Barret of Intel. The cause of the conflict is the Classmate PC designed by Intel. The Classmate is another solution aimed at addressing the problem of providing cheap computers for students in developing countries. Negroponte accuses Intel of copying his idea, marketing the Classmate PC against the OLPC laptop, and selling the Classmate below market cost to undermine OLPC. He justifies his claims by pointing out that the OLPC machines employ chips made by AMD, which is in direct competition with Intel.
Nicholas Negroponte, the founder OLPC has been involved in a war of words with Craig Barret of Intel. The cause of the conflict is the Classmate PC designed by Intel. The Classmate is another solution aimed at addressing the problem of providing cheap computers for students in developing countries. Negroponte accuses Intel of copying his idea, marketing the Classmate PC against the OLPC laptop, and selling the Classmate below market cost to undermine OLPC. He justifies his claims by pointing out that the OLPC machines employ chips made by AMD, which is in direct competition with Intel.The Classmate currently costs $176 but Intel aims to bring the price down to $100. Though there are differences between the two machines, Classmate looks very similar to the OLPC laptop and provides similar functionality. Unlike the OLPC project, which has received much criticism and has been rejected by various countries, Intel has reportedly received thousands of orders for the Classmate.
Intel denies the claims made by Negroponte. As an outsider, I personally think that a little competition is healthy and progressive despite the suspected motives behind Intel’s initiative. The end goal is to provide cheap and affordable computers for poor students; therefore this squabble is futile when considering the broader objective.
Labels: Education, Internet, OLPC, Society, Technology
posted by Shirazi @ 4:20 PM,
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Heritage Sites
One of the earlier recorded monument goers was Herodotus, the Greek historian who voyaged to Egypt 2400 years ago to stand in awe before the pyramids. One of the valid causes around the world these days is raising awareness about historic monuments and national sites in need of repair. Awareness can make the difference.
As a traveler, I have been all over the country paying tribute to Pakistan’s wealth of ancient sites. Starting from Karachi where 600 buildings have been listed by a heritage foundation to Multan and Lahore with their own distinct architectural style to Peshawar where legendary character of Qissa Khwani bazaar is changing and its old landmarks like city walls are disappearing. I also touched Thatta, Ptttan Munara, Uch Sharif, Sialkot, Nandna (in Salt Range) and Mansehra in the way. In my pursuit, I have traced the routes followed by conqueror Alexander the great and Chinese traveler Hieun Tsiang in the part of the world we call home. I have seen many extraordinary sights feeling comfortable and at peace and completely in the grip of history as I stood before each of them.Pakistan Federal Archeology Department identifies over 350 sites of irreplaceable and intrinsic value ranging from ruins in Mohenju Daro, Harappa and Texila to the tomb of the only Mughal Emperor (Jehangir) in Pakistan that has been rated third in the Subcontinent after Taj Mahal and Qutab Minar. The heritage sites in Pakistan are fast falling apart. Pilfering pollution, harsh climate, over development, lack of funds and expertise for maintenance, neglect and apathy of all concerned and law and order situation in the country all add up to crumbling monuments and disappointing travelers.
History and archeology make for good tourism that is largely a function of prosperity. The more money people have the more of it they will spend on travel and other intellectual pursuits. Today, worldwide tourism is an unprecedented 4.4 trillion dollar industry expected to be 10 trillions by 2010. Now once every beach, airport and other conventional tourist spots feel crowded like a cinema hall, people are constantly looking for quite unique and brand new destinations where they can see things and experience cultures that are not possible at home. Last year 90 million people came to Asia alone. But the irony is that outside world does not know about Pakistan or has a distorted image of it hence tourists cannot plan to visit. The tourism department foreign missions abroad, national airline. hotels and even the private sector and multinational giants of tourism could do a lot more than what they are doing to promote this industry. After all Pakistan has much more to offer than many other countries combined together.
This is the paradox and the joy of Pakistan a young national forged in the crucible of one of the world’s oldest civilizations. Some of the initial human history began here. The cultures are expressed in beautiful mosques, gardens tombs, forts, temples, monasteries, palaces, havelis, and other Islamic, pre Islamic, Hindu Sikh and British architectures. All these are the magnificent vistas of a land of mountains and plans, fields and orchards, farmland and sweeping river valleys. But all this has to be opened to the rest of the world.
No ordinary coldness of phrasing can express the surprise and delight with which one makes acquaintance with the heritage sites spread all over Pakistan.
posted by Shirazi @ 11:51 AM,
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In-Sect: Popculture's Webwunderkammer
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Zep Hopper
I love the Internet! We often tend to forget what a wonderful way of connecting people it is and always was.I worked on a CD-ROM game back in the days when stamp-sized quicktime videos made our customers shiver with excitement when we performed our business presentation. The Director community on Compuserve was a vivid and buzzing place to be part of and I learned a lot about interface design there. Compuserve was the largest information service company at that time (at a price of $10 an hour!) and had just introduced WYSIWIG forum posts, when a fellow developer wrote something very cryptical: "Will Macromedia support the WWW?"
What? World War Widows? Where Was Waldo? Which Womble Weeps? I just had NO idea, what this abbr. meant. So I downloaded "Mosaic", the grandfather of Firefox. And I learned.
Next: The Internet exploded! I visited "Jerry's Guide to the World Wide Web" daily just out of pure curiosity, I learned to draw with "FutureSplash" and I was one of the first in Germany to write about the "Bacon number" at the news page of my company.
Since all my companies had to do with media design I always posted my findings at our "news" page. I lost all my data from 'DBB Mediadesign' and of 'Magellan Intertainment', but a screenshot of the GDC news page is preserved here.(Just look at it, don't read it, my English was even clumsier than it's today...)
Somehow I already posted for a while when suddenly the word 'blog' was branded. But I concentrated on graphic design for some years (*money, money*) and waited to get enough spare time to learn a proper CMS until I started "The In-Sect" in 2005. It began with a regular table-layout in traditional, heroic, smell of sweat notepad-HTML, which is still documented as the first page here. (*blush*) In May 2005 the transfer to Textpattern was completed, so this is what I'm used to call the birthday of my little sect.
This is really not about bragging: "Wow, what a cool early adopter, what a visionary!".
What I want to express: My blog is a natural way of expressing myself. It's not a marketing idea, not an artsy concept, not one of my many websites - it's me. Curious surfer. Fascinated fellow human. Still impressible and easily moved to tears or laughter.
So everyday in the morning - and I have to get up way too early - after breakfast, I'll take my huuuge mug up to my computer and surf. Because my brain is twisted somehow it doesn't take too long to find something strange, bizarre or plainly interesting enough to post about it. Sometimes I even wake up with an idea, like: "Why not post about the Wombels?", "What is that tune I'm whistling?" or "Isn't there a Captain Alcohol?". If an exhibit is detected, I check whether one of the bigger fishes posted about it already. (It happened twice to me - out of pure excitement and slackness that I posted something that was on Boing Boing some days earlier - that sooo screams: "Lamer!") Technorati offers a handy javascript here.
I'm making about half a dollar each day with my blog right now, which pays the rent, but I do not plan to plaster more ads on my page. I'm not very much in the promoting thing and totally bored by SEO and Monetization blogs; I never was part of any exploit or link train and I only started to respond to memes recently, because my taggers were co-bloggers I really like. I use MyBlogLog often and I've met many like-minded bloggers there. In fact MyBlogLog didn't change too much in my traffic statistics, but now I receive comments, which is a new experience to me.
I think a visitor can be entertained at the In-Sect for quite some time now, with more than 600 posts online and I really hope to amuse even more guests and find more members and friends and contacts.
And I still love the Internet.
Labels: Fine Art of Blogging
posted by Shirazi @ 8:00 AM,
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Table for Five
Saturday, May 17, 2008
I started my first blog Table for Five when I was on bed rest while pregnant with my daughter. I have never been good at keeping baby books, and I wanted to remember those little moments that come and went so quickly each day. I knew if I could just jot them down on my blog, the memories would be there forever. I have since added two other blogs - MomReviews which is for product and personal reviews, and MomCooks for recipes.
I never have a problem coming up with blog topics. My kids and husband provide me with plenty to write about, and I can always post a few photos and tell the story behind them. I find that I get the best response from readers when I open up to them and write about something deeply personal. Readers like knowing that they aren’t the only ones who feel a certain way about something. No matter what you are dealing with, someone else out there has dealt with it too.
Buying my own domain and hosting it at Wordpress really changed the way I blog now. Even though I still struggle with PHP code, the tools that Wordpress offers are invaluable for not only creating a good blog but keeping it fresh. I’m a big fan of Wordpress plugins and am very grateful to all of the people who work so hard to come up with new ones. I also am very supportive of social networking sites like MyBlogLog, BlogCatalog, and BumpZee. Forming communities and neighborhoods with other bloggers brings me traffic to my site, and introduces me to a wide variety of blogs and blogging styles.
I have had a couple of personal high blogging points since starting my blog. I have been given the “Thinking Blogger Award” by a fellow blogger, and I was nominated by readers for two Blogger’s Choice Awards.
I started making money by blogging on March 1st of this year. I first signed up with PayPerPost, and then through friends I met there, I signed up with six other paid blogging sites. Because not all of them have jobs available every day, it gives me a constant stream of work. I consider blogging to now be my job. I work more than full-time hours on my blogs each day. If you want to make money blogging, you have to take it seriously. Advertisers are looking for quality blogs, and that means good sentence structure, excellent grammar, spelling and punctuation, a commitment to keeping the blog updated even if you don’t have a paid blogging topic to write about, and, of course, traffic. If you aren’t getting traffic to your sites, get yourself out there! Join every networking site you can find, ask your readers if they know about any new ones. List your blog in directories, use your URL in your message board signature. You have to be your own BIGGEST fan! You have to be proud of your blog and what you write on it. That is what will make you stand out as a blogger.
Labels: Fine Art of Blogging
posted by Shirazi @ 8:00 AM,
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Have an Impact
Friday, May 16, 2008
Those who are looking to get Logo Design, Business Card Design, Media Kit Design, Brochure Design, Packaging Design, Catalog Design, News Letter Design and or Menu Design should start impactxs.com - Montreal, Canada based graphic design, web design and illustration design studio delivers the best. Their services also include corporate identity and advertising. Explore impactxs.com and see what they can offer you.
posted by Shirazi @ 6:22 PM,
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Fine Art of Better Weekend Management
Hen Weekends, Stag Weekends and Hen Nights are popular party celebrations around the world. People love to have fun together and everyone has different ideas about Stag Weekends and Hen Weekends. Imagine a Stag Weekend or Hen Weekend with friends and colleagues all wearing Stag Party or Hen Party T-shirts for your group!
Betterweekend.com is one of the best event organizers and tour operators who can manage Hen Weekends anywhere in the world. They have standing arrangements with guest houses and luxury hotels all over the world to arrange Hen Weekends and Stag Weekends where ever you need. What is more, they also offer range of exclusive T-shirt designs (browse their T-shirt section). Given the type of services and quality of customers’ care, their prices are very competitive.
Check out their site and see what they are offering and how. Their site is information rich, nicely laid out and gives the idea of party spirit they will provide. If you still have questions, call them (0870 142 24 30) to book that Stag Weekend or Hen Weekend now.
Interested users may also subscribe to their mailing list and stay better informed of all the latest stag and hen trends, location and deals.
posted by Shirazi @ 12:08 PM,
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Refreshing Business through Arts and Mind
Robyn McMaster
My first inspiration came when Dr. Ellen Weber, with whom I work, began to blog. She was so enthused with blogging she couldn’t stop talking about joy she found. That stirred me so much that I thought I’d like to blog, too. She invited me to post two guest blogs. Quite an honor for a newbie!
My first inspiration came when Dr. Ellen Weber, with whom I work, began to blog. She was so enthused with blogging she couldn’t stop talking about joy she found. That stirred me so much that I thought I’d like to blog, too. She invited me to post two guest blogs. Quite an honor for a newbie!To share latest research on the brain and the arts in everyday language so that people can take away strategies for purposeful flow, intellectual challenge, problem solving and fulfillment at work keeps me going. I’d like to inspire others to tap into more of the rich resources of their brain. All that I share stems from the work I do at the MITA International Brain Based Center.
I like to use everyday language, link to great ideas from other bloggers and provide links to reputable research. One strategy I use is to “converse” with my readers as if they were sitting with me at a coffee house and having a discussion. I hone in on ways to interact with others in the blogosphere and learn much from tips bloggers’ share. This helps me connect more to other bloggers. Peoples’ ideas are important and as I blog, I make sure that comes across. Blogging’s not so much about me, but about others.
I like to play around with ideas in different ways. Sometimes that means using videos, pictures, math and logic, joining in a meme, sharing from life experiences, musical expressions, acrostics, and short poems or quotes. I tap into the multiple intelligences to express ideas to others. Believe it or not, when I go to an art gallery, concert or dance, ideas for new blog topics stir in my mind. Sometimes when I’m with friends or family at gatherings, ideas shared in conversations stir my thought in new ways.
Many ideas come to me when I’m golfing. I discovered ways to get out of anger or frustration that makes the hormone cortisol flood my brain. That shuts down good thinking and problem solving. Therefore, I had to find ways to increase levels of serotonin during activities that may not go well. As I’ve discovered new strategies, I share them with readers.
At first I posted my blog regularly on DIGG, reddit, Netscape and BizzBites. However, I found that as I linked to other people, they came to see what my blog was about. I like more personal ways of networking. I’ve also really enjoyed using MyBlogLog to discover new people and interesting blogs.
Blogging matters because it gives voice to new ideas. Bureaucracies control many fields today. Controllers want their ideas and ways of doing things promoted. Blogs give power to people who may not be rich in money, but are rich in ideas.
One personal high blogging points was when Anna Farmery of The Engaging Brand interviewed me on her weekly Podcast. Anna posted two Podcast sessions on negativity. Liz Strauss asked me to lead an SOB Cafe in March. My topic, “Tap More Brain Power by Asking Two-Footed Questions.” What a challenge to keep answering so many comments from interested people in such a short span of time! Many others lifted up the work at Brain Based Biz and I feel honored each time I’m tagged or others link to my work.
Labels: Fine Art of Blogging
posted by Shirazi @ 8:22 AM,
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Shadowscope
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Richard Miles
Probably the best answer to how I blog is consistently. Up until just a few months ago I only posted on one blog and the subjects vary from the mundane… housework, children, my job, what I ate today, etc…Basic personal diary stuff…to politics; I am a very opinionated person (what blogger isn’t) about my politics. I am very libertarian in my thinking. I pretty much think the government needs to stay out of my way and my life as much as possible and manage the things it needs to. I blog about software, religion, whatever comes to mind. My hobbies are Home Automation , HTPCs, and gardening so as I cycle through these during the year I tend to post more about them. I tend to have an extremely base and crass sense of humor, so that also comes through in my blogging. My language can sometimes be just as crass on my site, although I have been attempting to clean that up as well over the last couple of months since I started a couple of niche blogs, which brings me to the rest of my answer on this one. I decided late last year that since I post so often, I would be better served in setting up a couple of niche blogs. One is at theapp.net and for the most part is technology related, although I do post some entertainment stuff in there as well. My other one is almost strictly business and real estate related with some shopping posts thrown in at Miles Business Blog.
My main site is at Shadowscope and as I said, I will post anything there. Most recently I put up a short post about the FairTax act and the Republican debate but the first post of the day was “Monday Manboobs” so you see my awful sense of entertainment shines through occasionally.
It can be many different things. Back in the late nineties Shadowscope.com was run as a news site for Windows customization software and BBS news, as I was still into online BBSing at that time, even still hosted a telnet BBS from my home computer. I hand-coded my posts daily and uploaded a new page. A few of those posts still survive and I imported them into Movabletype a few months back. I consider that blogging, although it was not nearly as automated eight or nine years ago as it is now. Three years ago I would have responded to this question with the answer “My online diary”. Now that has changed somewhat. It is also an earning vehicle as well and a place where I put more of my opinions rather than just a “Hey, check out this salsa I made” type of place. That has it’s good and bad sides to it. Some of the same crowd of bloggers that used to visit me still comes around, but since I have decided to “monetize” my site I also get a whole different group of people as well.
Some days I can wake up and just have a head full of things to post about. I recently had several bloggers over at the house for a barbecue and one of my friends made the comment that he thought some days I posted every single though that came through my head. He was pretty darn close to being correct on that account. Other days I post strictly about work and how the day went. I try to keep from posting too much. Since I post under my real name, I have been warned by several bloggers that I might want to keep that to a minimum. I have worked for the same company for over twenty years and of course the fear is always real that they might not like what I write to much, and fire me. That’s certainly not a situation I want to be in, but if they were to get rid of me, it would most likely be for some of my opinions and non-job related posts rather than anything I might have written about my job.
I went for quite a while being very unsatisfied with my blog template, but just recently purchased a basic web site template that I really liked and coded it to fit my blog. I really like it and don’t plan on changing it for quite some time. It is certainly not the most commercially viable template, it is very dark although still easy to read and navigate. Since this is my personal site I wanted it to reflect how I was feeling at the time that I designed it. I had seriously considered having a professionally designed template, but the bottom line was that doing it myself was a much better idea financially.
I never used to use promotional tools, mainly relying on word of mouth, but the last six months I have spent promoting my site a bit more. I am certainly not up in the thousands of visits per day that some bloggers get, but I have a respectable amount of visitors. I am using the social networking sites such as mybloglog, blogcatalog, twitter, and a few others as well as making sure to submit my site to directories as well. I have considered recently using ReviewMe or PayPerPost as well but I may hold off on those for awhile. My brother is an author, and he used PayPerPost to advertise his blog and podcasts and says that he got his money’s worth from that but mostly from my site where even though I did take one of the paid posts advertising his podcast I have also done some reviews just because I like the book.
Why blogging matters? This is a hard one. I suppose I could come up with a Miss America answer such as It matters because in this global electronic world we have now it is easier to get the TRUTH to people around the world in formats other than the mainstream media. For myself, I don’t watch TV, read newspapers, or listen to the radio very much. I get 99 % of my news from the Internet and about 70% of that is from blogs.
The real answer is that it matter only because I care about it. I was writing only (although not very well) long before blogging became mainstream and I will be doing it long after something else comes along to take our attention from it. The style of my writing changes over time as do most things, but I will still be putting up blog posts whether you visit or not. I could say that I could care less what anyone thinks, but I do to a point. I really like the interaction I get from other people, whether it be from comments at my site, references from their sites, or me visiting THEM and commenting.
I am at my best when I am not thinking about what I am going to write. One of the more interesting things that I have found is that the posts that I think are really great are generally the ones that never get commented on, but the ones that I just throw out in haste just to get something up, garner more attention. Back in 2005 I was following the Natalee Holloway stuff for awhile and put a few posts up, mainly just links to other news sites with a bit of personal opinion thrown in. I received several hundred comments and more traffic from those posts than any others that I had done before or put up since.
The bottom line is that I write because I want to. I am not a particularly talented writer and some days my grammar could be much better. This year has definitely been a very active year for me. I have published just under a thousand posts in 2007 compared to somewhere in the vicinity of 1500 in the years before. Part of that is of course sponsored reviews and paid posts, but those are only about 10% of my content. I suppose I just have more to say than I used to. I am also writing much longer posts than I used to, as this seriously too-long review will show. If you are still awake after all of this I commend you.
Making money blogging has been garnering quite a bit of attention over the last few months. Some bloggers are dead set against making any kind of money only. They say that it sullies the “blogosphere” as if it is something sacred. Good for them. The fact is that money makes the world go ‘round and the World Wide Web would not be nearly as popular a destination if people weren’t making money on it. Then you have bloggers that are against making money, although they are making it and not letting us know about it. They are just a bunch of darn hypocrites and nobody with any sense believes them anyway, although they can be entertaining at times.
As far as myself, I sort of fell into it. I have had some sort of advertising ever since I became an online presence in the nineties. I started out with Amazon ads, and other affiliate stuff but never made any kind of money off of them because I have never had a super popular site nor did I ever really try to promote it. Back in January I signed up for PayPerPost and started doing paid posts. I am now also doing them for several other companies as well. I try to keep some kind of a balance though. Unless an advertiser just strictly forbids it, I always let my readers know that it is a sponsored post (unless I just plain forget) and I also have a site-wide disclosure policy that is accessible from almost every page on all of my sites. I have made somewhere around $3 grand since January, so it isn’t chump change any more. That is the biggest reason that I started to promote my blog. Since then my traffic has increased ten or fifteen times. Except for a few times when I was slashdotted, or had the Natalee Holloway posts up, I generally averaged about 30 hits a day from 1999 until 2006. In 2007 I am up to about 450 per day. Some days are better than others. What that means is that I am also starting to earn a bit from the affiliate links as well as some of the text links that I have.
Some days I will have about 40% paid posts, and other times I will go for days with no paid content. It really just varies. On a day like today where I am not working, I will spend about 10 hours online and do quite a few paid posts. I am also starting to try and save articles ahead of time for those days where I just don’t have the time to think or type anything up. That is something extremely new for me as well.
This has somehow turned into a short novel, so I think that means I am done here.
Labels: Fine Art of Blogging
posted by Shirazi @ 8:00 AM,
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Join Fine Art of Blogging
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Internet is a lonely place without Blogging; a fine art, science, also economics. Blogs are different to different people. Fine Art of Blogging asks you to share your views on what is a blog to you?
You are invited to contribute your thoughts in general. In particular, write how you blog? Why?
How blogging matters in life and work? Success stories, motivations and inspirations. Answer these questions and more (add what you feel is important dimension) in a post and send in word document.
Read some of the writers bloggers (Every blogger is a writer. No?) who have already contributed and criteria for inviting bloggers to join Fine Art of Blogging.
posted by Shirazi @ 9:42 PM,
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In Pakistan
One of the earlier recorded monument goers was Herodotus, the Greek historian who voyaged to Egypt 2400 years ago to stand in awe before the pyramids. One of the valid causes around the world these days is raising awareness about historic monuments and national sites in need of repair. Awareness can make the difference.
As a traveler, I have been all over the country paying tribute to Pakistan’s wealth of ancient sites. Starting from Karachi where 600 buildings have been listed by a heritage foundation to Multan and Lahore with their own distinct architectural style to Peshawar where legendary character of Qissa Khwani bazaar is changing and its old landmarks like city walls are disappearing. I also touched Thatta, Ptttan Munara, Uch Sharif, Sialkot, Nandna (in Salt Range) and Mansehra in the way. In my pursuit, I have traced the routes followed by conqueror Alexander the great and Chinese traveler Hieun Tsiang in the part of the world we call home. I have seen many extraordinary sights feeling comfortable and at peace and completely in the grip of history as I stood before each of them.
Pakistan Federal Archeology Department identifies over 350 sites of irreplaceable and intrinsic value ranging from ruins in Mohenju Daro, Harappa and Texila to the tomb of the only Mughal Emperor (Jehangir) in Pakistan that has been rated third in the Subcontinent after Taj Mahal and Qutab Minar. The heritage sites in Pakistan are fast falling apart. Pilfering pollution, harsh climate, over development, lack of funds and expertise for maintenance, neglect and apathy of all concerned and law and order situation in the country all add up to crumbling monuments and disappointing travelers.
We are poised to lose forever countless bits and pieces of amazingly divers land’s history, it seems. One problem facing the heritage custodians and town planners in Pakistan is what to do with the splendid legacy of the past?
History and archeology make for good tourism that is largely a function of prosperity. The more money people have the more of it they will spend on travel and other intellectual pursuits. Today, worldwide tourism is an unprecedented 4.4 trillion dollar industry expected to be 10 trillions by 2010. Now once every beach, airport and other conventional tourist spots feel crowded like a cinema hall, people are constantly looking for quite unique and brand new destinations where they can see things and experience cultures that are not possible at home. Last year 90 million people came to Asia alone. But the irony is that outside world does not know about Pakistan or has a distorted image of it hence tourists cannot plan to visit. The tourism department foreign missions abroad, national airline, hotels and even the private sector and multinational giants of tourism could do a lot more than what they are doing to promote this industry. After all Pakistan has much more to offer than many other countries combined together.
This is the paradox and the joy of Pakistan a young national forged in the crucible of one of the world’s oldest civilizations. Some of the initial human history began here. The cultures are expressed in beautiful mosques, gardens tombs, forts, temples, monasteries, palaces, havelis, and other Islamic, pre Islamic, Hindu Sikh and British architectures. All these are the magnificent vistas of a land of mountains and plans, fields and orchards, farmland and sweeping river valleys. But all this has to be opened to the rest of the world.
No ordinary coldness of phrasing can express the surprise and delight with which one makes acquaintance with the heritage sites spread all over Pakistan.
Their perspective gives you a wonderful sense of being. That is what I do when I am tired of being tied with the desk. In fact that is my recommendation: be there.
As a traveler, I have been all over the country paying tribute to Pakistan’s wealth of ancient sites. Starting from Karachi where 600 buildings have been listed by a heritage foundation to Multan and Lahore with their own distinct architectural style to Peshawar where legendary character of Qissa Khwani bazaar is changing and its old landmarks like city walls are disappearing. I also touched Thatta, Ptttan Munara, Uch Sharif, Sialkot, Nandna (in Salt Range) and Mansehra in the way. In my pursuit, I have traced the routes followed by conqueror Alexander the great and Chinese traveler Hieun Tsiang in the part of the world we call home. I have seen many extraordinary sights feeling comfortable and at peace and completely in the grip of history as I stood before each of them.
Pakistan Federal Archeology Department identifies over 350 sites of irreplaceable and intrinsic value ranging from ruins in Mohenju Daro, Harappa and Texila to the tomb of the only Mughal Emperor (Jehangir) in Pakistan that has been rated third in the Subcontinent after Taj Mahal and Qutab Minar. The heritage sites in Pakistan are fast falling apart. Pilfering pollution, harsh climate, over development, lack of funds and expertise for maintenance, neglect and apathy of all concerned and law and order situation in the country all add up to crumbling monuments and disappointing travelers.
We are poised to lose forever countless bits and pieces of amazingly divers land’s history, it seems. One problem facing the heritage custodians and town planners in Pakistan is what to do with the splendid legacy of the past?
History and archeology make for good tourism that is largely a function of prosperity. The more money people have the more of it they will spend on travel and other intellectual pursuits. Today, worldwide tourism is an unprecedented 4.4 trillion dollar industry expected to be 10 trillions by 2010. Now once every beach, airport and other conventional tourist spots feel crowded like a cinema hall, people are constantly looking for quite unique and brand new destinations where they can see things and experience cultures that are not possible at home. Last year 90 million people came to Asia alone. But the irony is that outside world does not know about Pakistan or has a distorted image of it hence tourists cannot plan to visit. The tourism department foreign missions abroad, national airline, hotels and even the private sector and multinational giants of tourism could do a lot more than what they are doing to promote this industry. After all Pakistan has much more to offer than many other countries combined together.
This is the paradox and the joy of Pakistan a young national forged in the crucible of one of the world’s oldest civilizations. Some of the initial human history began here. The cultures are expressed in beautiful mosques, gardens tombs, forts, temples, monasteries, palaces, havelis, and other Islamic, pre Islamic, Hindu Sikh and British architectures. All these are the magnificent vistas of a land of mountains and plans, fields and orchards, farmland and sweeping river valleys. But all this has to be opened to the rest of the world.
No ordinary coldness of phrasing can express the surprise and delight with which one makes acquaintance with the heritage sites spread all over Pakistan.
Their perspective gives you a wonderful sense of being. That is what I do when I am tired of being tied with the desk. In fact that is my recommendation: be there.
posted by Shirazi @ 10:43 AM,
, links to this post
4th Annual New Media Expo - August 14-16, 2008
The 4th Annual New Media Expo 2008 - a popular convention for online audio and video creators that brings together podcasters and bloggers – is being held at the Las Vegas Convention Center on August 14-16. People from all over the world including individual media creators, corporate content creators and marketers, media buyers, public relations firms and advertising agencies and educators will be there. Come and attend conference sessions about how to produce high-quality online audio and video content, grow a loyal audience, and market or monetize that content in creative ways. Explore the site and learn more about the event, better still register.
posted by Shirazi @ 12:14 AM,
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The Class
Monday, May 12, 2008
I have changed the domain of the Class. Friends and readers to please update.
posted by Shirazi @ 11:13 AM,
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Join Fine Art of Blogging
Internet is a lonely place without Blogging; a fine art, science, also economics. Blogs are different to different people. Fine Art of Blogging asks you to share your views on what is a blog to you?
You are invited to contribute your thoughts in general. In particular, write how you blog? Why?
How blogging matters in life and work? Success stories, motivations and inspirations. Answer these questions and more (add what you feel is important dimension) in a post and send in word document.
Read some of the writers bloggers (Every blogger is a writer. No?) who have already contributed and criteria for inviting bloggers to join Fine Art of Blogging.
posted by Shirazi @ 9:45 AM,
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1000petals
Sunday, May 11, 2008
I started in October 2006 with a missionary idea to tell the world more about the true beauty in a 3-language blog . As it grew I had to split it in 3 separate ones.
Then I realised that I still want to share more than this topic and started 1000petals - my sweetest and the most joyful baby that let me treat it as often as possible without much effort. Then my best friend invited me to join the administration of our exclusive club`s blog, and here I am with 5 blogs!
As my art of blogging was unfolding, it turned out to be a tender and yet powerful 6 petal flower:
- Beauty. Most of the Internet users are visualy-oriented. Surprisingly not all bloggers use pictures as a powerful tool. The world is bubbling with colors: majestic landscapes, breath-taking close ups of flowers, people expressing emotions - why not mirror it?! It is almost a physical pleasure for me to fish for elevating pictures on Flickr and then put them on my blogs.
- SEO - as far as I understand, Wordpress promotes you automatically to Google, and that is the best engine anyway. I was thinking of further SEO but then realized two things: 1) I am unlikely to go to any other search engines If I am looking for something particular, so how many people actually do that? Probably not many. 2) If my blog is good, it will attract readers anyway (which actually happens). So I refused from any further SEO activities.
- Being authentic. Being authentic is one of my strongest personal feature, and same case with my blogs. No false roles, borrowed concepts, snatched ideas and tricks. Whatever I post is gone through my experiences and represents my core qualities and values.
- Highest achievement. The most surprising fact in my short blogging history was the first personal email of a reader which I got. And then it grew like a snowball! People (and what caliber of people!) seek my friendship outside blogging and find it: a bunch of unfolding relationships is on my email list and in my heart. The funny thing is that I was never interested in Internet-provided relationships for the simple reason of my rich social life. Not that I am lacking some more dosens of friends :) But people get attracted, what can I do?
- Attraction. A popular word with a desirable content. Due to the weired value system of today one can easily attract people with the universal values of tomorrow, for they appear fresh and truly elevating. Practicing Sahaja Yoga for 11 years gave me such a unique world perception that readers find it fascinating to learn something entirely new. Right now I am preparing a spate of posts about "Divine Geography" for 1000petals. Uniqueness is only a tool of attraction though. Guess what is the driving force of it?
- LOVE is the almighty key to the heart of everyone. Same works for blogging. People get attracted by the love pouring from your blog like bees to the blossoming flower...I suggest regarding Love as the best SEO! Love which is just about putting much heart into it.Unconditionally.
Internet is a lonely place without Blogging; a fine art, also s science. Blogs are different to different people. In the first project, Quasi Fictional that still focuses on blogging basics, I asks prominent blog artists (through emails and this post) to share their views on what is blog to you? Here are the previous posts: Liz Strauss, Aliza Sherman Risdahl, Class, Mihaela Lica, Sterling W. Camden, Peg Haustetter, Steli Efti, Vicky Stringer, EXSENO
You are invited to contribute.
posted by Shirazi @ 9:26 PM,
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Fine Art of Blogging
Friday, May 9, 2008
Ghee
Gentle and Compassionate
I wasn’t familiar of blogging two years ago. A friend of mine was once an active blogger introduced me to this world. I got hooked instantly and started reading lots of blogs from her links but never started my own. It was only last year that I decided to swim in this sea.I was fully into the phenomenon from the time I wrote my first entry. Shy at first, I didn’t want to leave comments even I after reading because I was afraid to be neglected. “They might smirk at my comment being a beginner,” I thought. Later, I learnt to upload some simple templates, I wrote on variety of topics on my blog and people started coming to appreciate my posts. Friendship started. In fact, my very first commentators are still in touch and have never failed to come. I say it again, I blog for friendship and communication, not only my fellow citizens, but with different persons globally.
DIO asks, what makes you busy? I am a super busy career woman, wife and a mom at the same time. I teach English Conversation at Kindergarten Schools and at home am busy in the kitchen. Yeah, there are no maids here, unaffordable if I may add. Japanese hubbies don’t cook, unlike some westerners who are trained to do their share of household chores despite having wives to take care of them. I talk a lot, using very simple English terms, so that my Japanese students can understand me well, but at times I can’t express what I want to. Likewise there is a lot I want to share, and can’t due to scarcity of time: job, life, kids.
Night is my blogging time when I have the solitude. Everyone else sleeps and my mind wanders... May take is to improve my writing and let the readers spill their own opinions; sarcastic or nice. Blogging is also a therapy for me. My emotions are reflected in every entry I write. I don’t blog technically, no geeky stuff. My blog is simply my journal and serves as treasure house where I preserve my memories.
Recently, I have decided to make some money through blogging and have joined some affiliates - PayPerPost, ReviewMe. What is wrong with it?
My students come to my blog and I really appreciate their (and other readers) visits to me.
------
PPC or pay per click is the best way to earn money at home. This is one of the best internet marketing services. To start your own internet marketing business, you need a web site hosting package and website design tool. Make your website and start earning money today.
Labels: Fine Art of Blogging
posted by Shirazi @ 8:00 AM,
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Confessions of a Domesticated Party Girl
Thursday, May 8, 2008
MrsPartyGirl
When I started blogging, I didn’t think about how many comments I was going to get every time I posted an entry, or how much I was going to earn from plugging ads, or if I would spark heated debates with my written thoughts, or if I would eventually get published by The New Yorker, or if I will meet legions of friends through my site.
Honestly, I never thought of that.
I was already deep into blogging in 2002 when I realized that, back then, most bloggers utilized weblogging as a tool to share personal commentary relating to politics, science and technology, business, and all of those boring (but important!) stuff (which probably didn’t or couldn't get published in the dailies). For a while, I actually felt embarrassed at the way I used the blogosphere for my own purposes. In a world of Instapundit, Daily Kos, and (later on) Engadget dot coms, I was an insignificant soon-to-be ex-partygirl (I was getting married!) making like Doogie Howser MD on Bravejournal.
That’s right, I was a diarist. I still am. Though my thoughts do not, say, influence the voting public, I’ve long ago ceased to apologize for my cyber-existence. What was the harm in publishing my personal prattle?
After a while, though, I did give up. Blogging was a novelty then, and nobody read me. I lost steam.
Moving to Blogger.Com, I laid my other site to rest and started anew with Confessions of a Domesticated Party Girl in 2004. This came in the wake of some sudden personal shifts in my life. I was a new mom, in a country thousands of miles away from home, unfamiliar with all things domestic, and facing an uncertain future. The vast, wide cyberspace was my sounding board – and boy, did it listen! Blogging was my happy place – a launch pad for putting my thoughts out there, existing, even as my suddenly mundane life swallowed and hid me from the rest of the world.
Nothing much has changed since then. My blog still revolves around my love-hate relationship with my domestication and its effects on my (and my husband's) sanity. I write about my daughter (she never runs out of things for me to blog about). I write about food, friends, family, Fendi, good (and not-so-good) finds and fortune, my fears, and my faith (whew, lots of Fs in there). Sometimes, I even surprise myself (and my readers, too) with some serious two unsolicited pennies on various issues.
So what changed? Well, it came in the form of Marikit.Net when Marikit Tin offered me to join her community. To me, that meant three things: one, that people were *gasp* actually reading my blog; two, it was an honor to be writing alongside these inspiring women (one of the highest points in my blogging career, thus far), and; three, that I can be more than just a prattling sahmmy (stay-at-home mommy).
Yes, one of the most significant things I've learned from blogging is that: you can take it to a higher level. My blog, perhaps, is not unlike most online diaries out there - we're probably writing about the same things, expressing the same thoughts, subscribing to the same promo and ad tools, or using the same blog template. However, I realized that, once you commit to honing your craft, finding your voice, and writing to please, nay, affect any soul who happens to stumble upon your space (consequently reaching back out to you, feeling with you, connecting with you), then you will have taken your blog towards a higher level of skill - that, to a fine art.
Now, I’ve spread my wings. I write with a wonderful group of wives at WifeSpeaks.Com on weekly topics about the joys and challenges of being a wife and mother. Likewise, together with some of my most opinionated friends from the University, we started Change of Engagement, a group blog that tries to deliver some targetted stabs to the heart of Philippine politics. Finally, being an expatriate myself, I also contribute some articles to PINOYExpats, an e-zine geared towards Philippine expatriates and immigrants worlwide. Indeed, the world could be made cozier, more personal, more relevant, by a simple mouse click on the "Post" or "Publish" button.
Right now, my light-brown canvas of a blog is still a work-in-progress - still painting my world as I see it, still trying to find that perfect frame. In spite of that, I am thankful that this medium has allowed me to connect with my family, my friends, and even perfect strangers. Interactions, relationships, respect: these are what gives blogging its soul. Like any work of art, blogs need to be beheld so as to derive meaning. Connections.
As I think about it now, I still don't go crazy if I get only a few comments every time I post an entry – my Statcounter says people have passed by, and that already makes me happy. I still don't think about how much I am going to earn from plugging ads - I guess, a dollar a month for the next three thousand months will eventually buy me a Fendi. I have neither sparked any major debates yet (I think) nor has The New Yorker acknowledged my existence (Yet). However, I will continue blogging because of my need to exist. Like paintings on the wall, my storytelling will be my legacy to my daughter, proof that I lived my life to the fullest (despite the housework), and a wish that she will find her own voice someday.
The people I've met through blogging, real, talented, and courageous people willing to share their lives and passions out in the open, I cherish them. I can't be inspired, challenged, and awed enough by their unique personal masterpieces.
Simply put, my take is: in the blogging world, it's absolutely no fun to party alone.
Previous posts: Liz Strauss, Aliza Sherman Risdahl, Mihaela Lica, Sterling W. Camden, Peg Haustetter, Steli Efti, Vicky Stringer, EXSENO, Axinia, Daniel S, Turo Jantunen, Alina Popescu, Dine Racoma, Chris Garrett, annamanila, Wifely Steps and Rolly
Technorati Tag: Fine Art of Blogging
When I started blogging, I didn’t think about how many comments I was going to get every time I posted an entry, or how much I was going to earn from plugging ads, or if I would spark heated debates with my written thoughts, or if I would eventually get published by The New Yorker, or if I will meet legions of friends through my site.Honestly, I never thought of that.
I was already deep into blogging in 2002 when I realized that, back then, most bloggers utilized weblogging as a tool to share personal commentary relating to politics, science and technology, business, and all of those boring (but important!) stuff (which probably didn’t or couldn't get published in the dailies). For a while, I actually felt embarrassed at the way I used the blogosphere for my own purposes. In a world of Instapundit, Daily Kos, and (later on) Engadget dot coms, I was an insignificant soon-to-be ex-partygirl (I was getting married!) making like Doogie Howser MD on Bravejournal.
That’s right, I was a diarist. I still am. Though my thoughts do not, say, influence the voting public, I’ve long ago ceased to apologize for my cyber-existence. What was the harm in publishing my personal prattle?
After a while, though, I did give up. Blogging was a novelty then, and nobody read me. I lost steam.
Moving to Blogger.Com, I laid my other site to rest and started anew with Confessions of a Domesticated Party Girl in 2004. This came in the wake of some sudden personal shifts in my life. I was a new mom, in a country thousands of miles away from home, unfamiliar with all things domestic, and facing an uncertain future. The vast, wide cyberspace was my sounding board – and boy, did it listen! Blogging was my happy place – a launch pad for putting my thoughts out there, existing, even as my suddenly mundane life swallowed and hid me from the rest of the world.
Nothing much has changed since then. My blog still revolves around my love-hate relationship with my domestication and its effects on my (and my husband's) sanity. I write about my daughter (she never runs out of things for me to blog about). I write about food, friends, family, Fendi, good (and not-so-good) finds and fortune, my fears, and my faith (whew, lots of Fs in there). Sometimes, I even surprise myself (and my readers, too) with some serious two unsolicited pennies on various issues.
So what changed? Well, it came in the form of Marikit.Net when Marikit Tin offered me to join her community. To me, that meant three things: one, that people were *gasp* actually reading my blog; two, it was an honor to be writing alongside these inspiring women (one of the highest points in my blogging career, thus far), and; three, that I can be more than just a prattling sahmmy (stay-at-home mommy).
Yes, one of the most significant things I've learned from blogging is that: you can take it to a higher level. My blog, perhaps, is not unlike most online diaries out there - we're probably writing about the same things, expressing the same thoughts, subscribing to the same promo and ad tools, or using the same blog template. However, I realized that, once you commit to honing your craft, finding your voice, and writing to please, nay, affect any soul who happens to stumble upon your space (consequently reaching back out to you, feeling with you, connecting with you), then you will have taken your blog towards a higher level of skill - that, to a fine art.
Now, I’ve spread my wings. I write with a wonderful group of wives at WifeSpeaks.Com on weekly topics about the joys and challenges of being a wife and mother. Likewise, together with some of my most opinionated friends from the University, we started Change of Engagement, a group blog that tries to deliver some targetted stabs to the heart of Philippine politics. Finally, being an expatriate myself, I also contribute some articles to PINOYExpats, an e-zine geared towards Philippine expatriates and immigrants worlwide. Indeed, the world could be made cozier, more personal, more relevant, by a simple mouse click on the "Post" or "Publish" button.
Right now, my light-brown canvas of a blog is still a work-in-progress - still painting my world as I see it, still trying to find that perfect frame. In spite of that, I am thankful that this medium has allowed me to connect with my family, my friends, and even perfect strangers. Interactions, relationships, respect: these are what gives blogging its soul. Like any work of art, blogs need to be beheld so as to derive meaning. Connections.
As I think about it now, I still don't go crazy if I get only a few comments every time I post an entry – my Statcounter says people have passed by, and that already makes me happy. I still don't think about how much I am going to earn from plugging ads - I guess, a dollar a month for the next three thousand months will eventually buy me a Fendi. I have neither sparked any major debates yet (I think) nor has The New Yorker acknowledged my existence (Yet). However, I will continue blogging because of my need to exist. Like paintings on the wall, my storytelling will be my legacy to my daughter, proof that I lived my life to the fullest (despite the housework), and a wish that she will find her own voice someday.
The people I've met through blogging, real, talented, and courageous people willing to share their lives and passions out in the open, I cherish them. I can't be inspired, challenged, and awed enough by their unique personal masterpieces.
Simply put, my take is: in the blogging world, it's absolutely no fun to party alone.
Previous posts: Liz Strauss, Aliza Sherman Risdahl, Mihaela Lica, Sterling W. Camden, Peg Haustetter, Steli Efti, Vicky Stringer, EXSENO, Axinia, Daniel S, Turo Jantunen, Alina Popescu, Dine Racoma, Chris Garrett, annamanila, Wifely Steps and Rolly
Technorati Tag: Fine Art of Blogging
Labels: Fine Art of Blogging
posted by Shirazi @ 8:00 AM,
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On The Roof of the World
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Richard is on solo mountain biking trip to India, Pakistan, China, Tibet and Nepal trying to circumnavigate the Himalayas.Earlier, Richard was on the in the area during 2002-03. In December 2005, he had finalized route, time plan and started research and preparation to leave towards the end of June 2006 and to be on the road until the end of the year, possibly returning just before the Christmas 2006. He is on it now. I was keenly following his progress on this trip and have had a chance to meet with him and talk when he was in Lahore in August.
Richard is an independent traveler without rigid time frame and strict schedules. His route includes Northern India where he plans to ride through Rishikesh, Hardiwar, Shimla, Kinnaur, Spiti, Lahaul, Rupshu, Ladakh, Dharamsala, Amritsar. Pakistan, with the many times traveled KKH, is a popular destination with cyclists. Western China, with her Xinjiang and Tibet provinces, is always full of challenges requiring absolute determination and commitment but with rewards unlike any other - Kashgar on the crossroads of the famous Silk Route, Kailash - The Bon center of the universe and the ultimate pilgrimage site for Tibetans Buddhists, as well as Hindus and Jains from India, Kingdom of Guge, Himalayan peaks, Tibetan lakes, and many more. Lastly, Nepal and its people are always welcoming despite never-ending political turmoil, in the Himalayan outskirt towns and villages as well as in Kathmandu and Pokhara.
Richard also has plans to return to Pakistan with more climbing expedition in near future. I am already looking forward to that.
Why you travel? (Knowing everyone else asks the same question, I resisted.) “I have been asked this many times. It is a fairly straightforward question, the answer is anything but. And I'm sure, if you'd ask hundred people, you would get hundred different answers. In its essence, travel is simply a way to discover multitudes of human experiences. I think the only true way to achieve it is by traveling 'mostly' alone, or in a small group of like-minded fellow 'wanderers'. It is about the only way of how to interact with locals, and see, feel, and hopefully understand better their lives, may they be happy and wonderful, or tragic and full of sorrow... This often means leaving behind the comforts that I am used to at home as it is about meeting unexpected challenges almost daily, i.e. overcoming language barriers, finding out and respecting local customs and cultural differences, or being a little bit adventurous when tasting wide variety of (sometimes highly unusual!!!) dishes, and much more... To experience it all fully, I have to let go off my 'Western way' of doing things. Sometimes, just a slight change in my behavior (as in "When in Rome, do as Romans do.") will bring on many memorable, even funny, encounters with local people,” writes Richard.
Unlike most backpackers, I have had chance to meet, I found Richard well prepared and well informed.
In Pakistan, after crossing at Wagah, Rich stayed in Lahore some days (at a place near Regal on the Mall I had no clue) before leaving for Islamabad to get Chinese visa and then jump onto the Karakoram Highway and pedal all the way to Kashgar in Xinjiang. While on the KKH, he wants to bike through Kaghan Valley and reconnect with the KKH near Chilas. This is difficult route as compared to taking KKH right from Hasan Abdal but he says, “I like to take this challenge and see more.”
English is not his first language but Rich speaks (loud enough for me) and writes exceptionally well. He is alive to the political situation in South Asia and keeps himself update about what is happening in Nepal, how Pakistani and Indian economies are growing or what were the impacts of October Earthquake in Pakistan.
Having read Alive and Well in Pakistan by Ethan Casey, Richard finds Pakistan and its people friendly, peaceful and welcoming. “I have not had any problems so far,” he says, “some writers exaggerate to dramatize their tales but nothing has happened to me still.
“Those who have a chance to visit the country, see for themselves and meet people have better view of Pakistan but those who have never been here know Pakistan as the media presents,” he says.
He writes his diary for himself “to help prepare in a more organized fashion for this adventure . But there is so much more about the trip that I know for sure I will get side-tracked into discussing history, religion, politics, current affairs and culture. I guess, in essence, that is what traveling is all about. Being confronted by unexpected and different and discovering just how much in common we have.”
posted by Shirazi @ 9:06 AM,
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The Philosophy of Travel
Monday, May 5, 2008
Traveling whirls you around, turns you upside down and stands everything you took for granted on its head. We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next, to find ourselves. We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate. We travel to bring what little we can, in our ignorance and knowledge, to those parts of the globe whose riches are differently dispersed. And we travel, in essence, to become young fools again — to slow time down and get taken in, and fall in love once more.
The beauty of this whole process was best described, perhaps, before people even took to frequent flying, by George Santayana in his lapidary essay, “The Philosophy of Travel.” We “need sometimes,” the Harvard philosopher wrote, “to escape into open solitudes, into aimlessness, into the moral holiday of running some pure hazard, in order to sharpen the edge of life, to taste hardship, and to be compelled to work desperately for a moment at no matter what.”
The beauty of this whole process was best described, perhaps, before people even took to frequent flying, by George Santayana in his lapidary essay, “The Philosophy of Travel.” We “need sometimes,” the Harvard philosopher wrote, “to escape into open solitudes, into aimlessness, into the moral holiday of running some pure hazard, in order to sharpen the edge of life, to taste hardship, and to be compelled to work desperately for a moment at no matter what.”
posted by Shirazi @ 10:18 PM,
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Twenty years of teaching
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Rolly
A blog is a journal where I can keep what my thoughts are on certain issues. I have always thought about doing a journal before and have actually started doing one on several notebooks but always, I abandoned these out of my own laziness to write. My handwriting began to get really messy when I learned to use the computer. When I discovered blogs, I found an avenue to keep a record of my thoughts and never stopped ever since.I have posted my reason for blogging several times before. This is so that I can impart to my four kids the lessons I learned in life hoping that these would learn from these. I hope that my experiences would touch their lives, understand how and why I react to certain situations and get to know how to deal with other people in a more appropriate manner.
Writing my thoughts would make them know how I felt about something and give them more time to ponder and analyze my course of action. I am not one to give long sermons to my kids for I don't like those either when I was a young boy. They wouldn't listen if they don't want to anyway.
Furthermore, my writing could even extend to my children's children, and theirs, and so on. This way, I am assured that I would have left a legacy somehow or another to those who would have not known me personally. I am not a rich man so I can not leave them with anything material. At least, the lessons in life I teach would/could help them cope up with life that could sometimes be harsh, if one doesn't know how to deal with it.
What I did not expect was that I would have started something serendipitous. Other people began discovering my blog and had left comments of their own thoughts as well and that is neat. I got to be friends with a lot of my readers and commenter.
Unfortunately, I don't blog now as often as I used to. I get my topics from anything and everything that cross my path; a news report; an event that happened in my life; a book I read - anything that sparks an idea.
A blog template creates the identity of the blog. It gives your blog a face just like labels do with products. I have not used any promotion tool as I have not promoted my blog. I guess some people got to go my blog when I left comments with a link with mine in other blogs that I visited and read. From the day I started, I have been a regular at kwentong tambay, the Sassy Lawyer's Journal. Lately, I've added the following to my daily dose of blogs: knowread/knowrite, Under the Canopy and Blogging Bugs. There are a lot others which are linked in my blog and I have learned from them tremendously.
One of my cherished moments in my blogging life would have to be when I met in person the bloggers I have learned to admire. Batjay, Sassy Lawyer, Doc Emer. This meeting would be repeated again and again as they have become personal friends of mine. We have actually started a group of blogger friends called the Blogkadahan and we're still going strong to date.
Lastly, I have several posts that really mean to me a lot. These would be bonding moments I had with my family and friends, or posts that generated more thoughts and comments from readers.
I joined adsense before. I was about to earn my very first cash when I received a note from them that they suspect I have several illegal clicks or whatever the term is. I have been pondering over it and came to the conclusion that since I am a teacher and students in my school are probably reading my blog, they may have clicked the ads using the computers in school. Since all these computers are linked to only two servers, these clicks could have probably sent out the same IP address. So much for generating income eh?
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Technorati Tag: Fine Art of Blogging
Labels: Fine Art of Blogging
posted by Shirazi @ 4:20 PM,
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E-mail Marketing
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Email is one of the most efficient tools in the world of marketing that has already changed the familiar marketing mix. Choose the right software and complex marketing process becomes simpler and efficient.
Try email marketing software by Gold Lasso - the fastest growing email service provider servicing the middle and enterprise marketplaces and already creating waves in the industry. Why? Because the services at Gold Lasso are so designed that they meets all possible requirements. Explore their professionally laid out site and learn about their solution. Better still go for Gold Lasso. What is more, grab your free copy of The Complete Guide To E-mail Marketing by Bruce Brown. It is on the site.
Try email marketing software by Gold Lasso - the fastest growing email service provider servicing the middle and enterprise marketplaces and already creating waves in the industry. Why? Because the services at Gold Lasso are so designed that they meets all possible requirements. Explore their professionally laid out site and learn about their solution. Better still go for Gold Lasso. What is more, grab your free copy of The Complete Guide To E-mail Marketing by Bruce Brown. It is on the site.
posted by Shirazi @ 8:01 PM,
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Wifely Steps
I've always loved writing. When I stumbled upon blogging in 2001, I was amazed by how open and interactive the world of blogging was. In the beginning it was a place to air my angst and rantings, my sentimental moods and reflections. But as I wrote some more and discovered how a community is created through an exchange of comments and blog-hopping, I knew it was more than a venue for expression. It was a venue for connection.This is why I like blogging. Blogging to me is more than just writing entries online – it is choosing to share your thoughts with others and eventually interact with these people. I blog not only because I love to write. I blog because I want to share whatever it is I learn in life with others. I blog because I yearn to connect with others.
I started Wifely Steps a few months after I got married. In the beginning I posted about recipes I had practiced, cleaning tips I had learned and other household management tips I had tried. They were quite basic. But I thought, if I could help others adjust to married life as I was doing so, it would be one little way of reaching out to and helping fellow newlyweds. Four years later, I was not only sharing tips on domesticated living but on life reflections too. Being a wife, after all, is not limited to just keeping house. It's taking care of your marriage and more importantly, yourself too.
It was clear from the beginning that I would not blog about things I had not experienced firsthand. I didn't want my blog to be a collection of tips and reviews from other sites. I first had to test these tips and write about my experiences. This is how I blog.
Last March, Wifely Steps was awarded the Best Home and Living Blog Award at the Philippine Blog Awards. That was an unbelievable experience. While I was aware that I had been connecting with more and more people, I didn't realize it was big enough to be recognized for a major award. That is definitely one of the highlights of my blogging.
Another highlight of my blogging life is meeting so many interesting people. I've developed good relationships with a group of Filipinos around the world – we collectively call ourselves the Blogging Berks. We not only e-mail one another regularly, but maintain a group blog called Blogkadahan. They are more than just bloggers to me, they are my friends and I would not have met them had it not been for blogging.
Another way I blog is to keep in touch with my readers. I try to answer comments as much as I can. These wonderful people took the time to share their thoughts, and I really appreciate listening, or rather, reading what they have to say. It was through comments interaction that I developed friendships with some bloggers too.
And so this is the fine art of blogging for me. It is not only a good venue for writing, not only a better venue for expressing oneself, but a great venue for connecting with others. It's been six years since I've first started blogging, and frankly, I don't see myself stopping anytime in the near future. There are just too many things to share and too many connections that have yet to be made. I look forward to that.
Internet is a lonely place without Blogging; a fine art, also s science. Blogs are different to different people. In the first project, Quasi Fictional that still focuses on blogging basics, I asks prominent blog artists (through emails and this post) to share their views on what is blog to you? Here are the previous posts: Liz Strauss, Aliza Sherman Risdahl, Mihaela Lica, Sterling W. Camden, Peg Haustetter, Steli Efti, Vicky Stringer, EXSENO, Axinia, Daniel S, Turo Jantunen, Alina Popescu, Dine Racoma, Chris Garrett, annamanila.
Technorati Tag: Fine Art of Blogging
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posted by Shirazi @ 5:57 PM,
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Alexa Rank
Alexa is a very powerful tool used to rank web site traffic. Find out how your web site traffic stacks up against all your competitors! This is one of the most accurate freelya available tools to find out how well your site ranks up against millions of other sites on the Web. Remember: "The lower the Alexa ranking number the more heavily visited the site." Some examples are:amazon.com (rank 14); weather.com (rank 64); cnn.com (rank 26); google.com (rank 5); Yahoo.com (rank 1). These rankings are generally consistent with the amount of traffic they have. Today mine Alexa Traffic Rank is: 731,964
Click here to find your Alexa Ranking
posted by Shirazi @ 1:00 PM,
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What is a blog to you?
Internet is a lonely place without Blogging; a fine art, science, also economics. Blogs are different to different people. Fine Art of Blogging asks you to share your views on what is a blog to you?
Please contribute your thoughts on blogging in general. In particular, write how you blog? Why? How blogging matters in life and work? Success stories and inspirations. Answer these questions and more (add what you feel is important dimension for you) and email me.
Fine Art Claimer
My blogs are a resource for my writings. More often, I blog informally, sharing impressions, generating ideas to see how they invoke reactions, keeping track of others’ work in the fields of my interest, or simply ranting or pointing out things that come to my attention.
Also, I use blogging as a platform to prune ideas. This is where I meet others and share experiences. “I am neither geek, nor nerd, I am not a hacker, a phreaker, a programmer or any variety of technoid dweeb.”
