Arfa Karim Shows Signs of Life

Arfa Karim has Mashallah achieved so much at a very young age and brought fame and pride to Pakistan. This little girl now is on death bed and  I pray to Almighty Allah for her complete recovery and may she fight back and bring more glory and happiness in our lives.

ISLAMABAD — Arifa Karim, Pakistan’s pride who became world’s youngest Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) at 9 in 2004 continues to be in critical condition in death’s icy hands at CMH hospital in Lahore since she suffered cardiac arrest on December 22.

On Friday night, however, Arifa showed signs of life a day after doctors gave up all hope for her survival and suggested switching off her life support saying there was ‘no hope’.

“Arifa started showing some brain activity and twitched her fingers, her father Lt-Col. (Retd) Amjad Karim Randhawa,” told journalists.

The youngest-ever Microsoft certified professional, however, is still in critical condition, he said.

Doctors at the hospital said she was completely normal when she suddenly had an epileptic attack and was shifted to the Combined Military Hospital in Lahore. On December 28 she became unconscious and was put on ventilator. The family has been receiving calls from across the world for Arifa’s health and prayers for her recovery, her father said.

Born in 1995, Arifa became the youngest MCP in the world at the age of 9. The MCP involves building programmes into broader systems for business. Arifa was invited by Bill Gates to visit the Microsoft Headquarters in the USA when she was only 10-year-old. In August 2005, Arifa was also awarded the Fatima Jinnah Gold Medal in the field of Science and Technology by then Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. She also received the Salaam Pakistan Youth Award again in 2005 set up by Pakistan’s only Nobel laureate Dr Abdul Salam. She is also the recipient of the Presidential Award for Pride of Performance.

Arifa represented Pakistan on various international fora. She was invited by the IT Professionals of Dubai for a stay of two weeks in Dubai. During that trip, Arifa was presented with various medals and awards.

She also flew a plane at a flying club in Dubai at the age of 10, and received the first flight certificate. In November 2006, Arifa was invited by Microsoft to be a part of the keynote session in the Tech-Ed Developers conference held in Barcelona. The theme of the conference was “Get ahead of the game” and Arifa was presented as a true specimen of being ahead of the game. She was the only Pakistani among over 5,000 developers in that conference. – Counrtesy Khaleej Times

Bill Gates Hires Doctors for Arfa Kareem

According to her father Col Karim Microsoft contacted him and offered help. Directed by Bill Gates, the firm has hired doctors who would co-ordinate with the Pakistani doctors through vidoe conference and they may come to Pakistan if needed. Read more.

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Dr Umar Saif among "World’s Top Young Innovators for the year 2011"

Congratulations to Dr. Umar Saif, a professor at LUMS,  who has been recognized by MIT Technology Review amongst`World`s Top 35 Young Innovators for the year 2011 for his peer to peer file sharing software BitMate. By featuring in the list, Saif now joins an elite group of researchers and technologists including the likes of Google’s Sergey Brin and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.

MIT Technology Review selects the top innovators after a rigorous evaluation process. The judges, who are leading experts in their fields from universities such as MIT, Stanford and Harvard, consider hundreds of high-impact researchers and entrepreneurs from all over the world, out of which top 35 are chosen for the award. “This year’s group of TR35 recipients is driving the next wave of transformative technology and making an impact on the way we live, work and interact”, said Jason Pontin, editor-in-chief and publisher of the MIT Technology Review.

In the last decade, this is the first time a Pakistani has been selected for the prestigious TR35 award, says a press release issued on Tuesday. “The TR35 recognizes the world’s top 35 young innovators that are radically transforming technology as we know it. Their work – spanning medicine, computing, communications, energy, electronics and nanotechnology — is changing our world,” according to MIT Technology Review.

Dr Saif holds a BSc. from the Lahore University of Management Sciences and Ph.D. in Computer Science from University of Cambridge, where he was a Commonwealth Scholar at Trinity College. Saif is a tenured associate professor at the Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan and established one of the first startup incubators in Pakistan, called the Saif Center of Innovation (SCI)^. Saif’s work on grassroots technologies received the MIT Technovator Award in 2008.

Dr Saif has won numerous awards for his innovative technology solutions for the developing-world. He was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2010. He is a recipient of the MIT Technovator Award, Mark Weiser Award, Digital Inclusion Award from Microsoft Research and the IDG Technology Pioneer Award. Before moving to Pakistan, Saif worked at MIT and received a PhD from the University of Cambridge. He is a Fellow of the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust. More.

Saif is working on some incredibly innovative start ups right now.One of his projects, SMSall.pk is like Twitter and it was fanning out at an exponential rate in Pakistan. Othe project uses mobile phone cameras to allow illiterate people to understand English. People can take pictures of English text – newspaper clippings, labels, anything – from any cell phone, MMS it to a number and they will get a call back that that reads out the text to them in Urdu.

Best of all, Pakistan need not fear losing Saif to any other country. Because he has no plans to move his home base out of Pakistan. Even though he spends some time visiting other universities to get some work done, Saif says that he is in Pakistan to stay permanently.

Technorati Tags: bonzai trees, Dr umar saif, LUMS, MIT technology review, MIT Technovator award, SMSall.pk, young global leader by the wrld economic forum 2010

airconditioned jacket

It works by helping the body’s own cooling system. Normally, sweat is produced and evaporates, causing a cooling effect – but clothes interfere with this process by trapping the droplets.

But the jacket, invented by former Sony technician Hiroshi Ichigaya, produces a layer of circulating air which enhances sweat evaporation. Two fans at the back pump fresh air around the wearer and out through the neck and sleeve ends. Moisture can also pass through the cloth.

The fans – four inches in diameter – are powered by AA batteries, which last for several hours, or by plugging into a computer using a USB cable.

The electrical parts can be removed for washing. The only drawback is the balloon effect caused by the air flow. Do you mind that ? When there is no electricity!

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google+

Are you a member of Google+? Well I am !

We have a chance to start all over again and complete our circle of friends by becoming a member of Google+. Some of my friends who were hurt by the decisions of the Facebook authorities in the past can join us. People who were scared and felt threatened by the privacy issues on facebook can also join in to enjoy the benfits of “social networking”.

Social networking (Facebook) has brought us all closer in more then one ways. People who do not get to see or meet each other for ages are now closer because they share each others’ day to day life! Every statues or pictures shared makes us all aware of happenings in our friend and family’s lives.

Mark Zuckerberg on Google+

Even  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg joined Google+ in an effort to explain us yet again that we’re all sharing more and more things with more and more people because we need to spread more and more of our love around the world.

And wasn’t it mere days ago that he became the most followed human being on Google+? Now he suddenly seems to have closed off his Google+ account from public eyes and disappeared from the Google+ popularity charts!

Anyway Google+ looks different yet familiar and easy to use. If you are a facebook user you do not have to make an effort to get used to this. Google+ is similar to Facebook, allowing people to add profile pictures and connect with friends, but it also connects with Google staple websites like its search engine and Gmail.

But the main difference is that a user’s friends or contacts are grouped into ‘circles’ – rather than just having a giant pool of friends like on Facebook. The layout of the Circles is pretty cute; removing a contact from a Circle blasts them into a puff of smoke, to which you are free to add your own laser noises.

Google+ is already giving Facebook a run for its money! According to a researcher, Google+ could be on the verge of hitting the 10 million users mark inits first two weeks.Paul Allen, the founder of Ancestry.com, has estimated that Google+ is just a step away from hitting its 10-millionth member, if it hasn’t already, Telegraph reported. However, Google+ has a long way to go to cause any kind of upset to Facebook which has 750 million users and Twitter which has more than 300 million users.

facebook-vs-google-plus

Related Posts:

Google+ iPhone App

Facebook removes Google+ ads

Technorati Tags: circle of friends, facebook, google, privacy facebook

X-ray projected on the skin

The AnatOnMe is a hand-held device that is made up of a projector, digital camera and infrared camera along with a laser pointer.

The projector can display stock images of six types of injury directly on to the patient’s skin or a model to help them understand the impact it has had on their body.

They added that volunteers who reviewed the handheld projections delivered a more engaging and informative experience than a traditional consultation.

Amy Karlson from Microsoft Research Redmond, said: ‘This is an interesting new space because, despite the prevalence of technology in many settings, technology has been relatively absent from face-to-face communication and education opportunities between doctors and patients.

‘The coolest part was hearing positive reactions from study participants when we projected medical imagery directly onto their arms and legs.

‘We got, “Wow!” “Cool!” and “I feel like I’m looking directly through my skin!”

‘There seems to be something quite compelling and unique about viewing medical imagery on one’s own body.’

The AnatOnMe device and paper was presented this week in Vancouver at CHI 2011, the Association for Computing Machinery’s Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
Courtesy: Daily mail

Technorati Tags: AnatOnMe, see through your skin. smart x ray, small x-ray machine, x ray projected on skin, x-ray on skin

Newton's apple tree

The 400 year old tree is at the 17th century in Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth, Lincolnshire, where Newton was born and where he later returned for several years after studying at Cambridge University.

An official of The National Trust, which owns the small manor house where Newton was born in 1642, said the tree – which re-rooted itself in 1820 after being blown down in a storm and grew back in an ‘inverted S-shape’ – was already difficult to get close to because of its shape.

A piece of Newton’s apple tree is now bound to leave gravity behind.Flying aboard space shuttle Atlantis next week will be a 4-inch (10-centimeter) sliver of the tree from which an apple fell nearly 350 years ago and inspired Newton to discover the law of gravity. British-born astronaut Piers Sellers is flying the piece of wood for The Royal Society of London. 

“I’ll take it up into orbit and let it float around a bit, which will confuse Isaac,” Sellers said in an interview with The Associated Press earlier this week.

Piers Sellers further says “I am flying a chip of wood from Isaac Newton’s apple tree. How about that?” Sellers told SPACE.com in an interview last week. “It’s even got a little 17th century scrawl on it that says, ‘I. Newton.’ I don’t know if he wrote it or someone else wrote it, but anyway, it’s a very old piece of apple tree.”

Newton was a physicist, mathematician and astronomer, among other things. He was born in 1643 in Lincolnshire, England said to be the site of the famous apple tree. In 1687, he published his book “Principia” in which he described his theory of gravity and the laws of motion. He died in 1727.

Newton’s first law of motion, one of three, states that an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. It also holds for an object in motion, which would stay in motion unless also confronted by an external force.

Newton’s second law of motion describes the relationship between an object’s force and its mass and acceleration, while the third law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Ahhh…enjoyed reading these laws

Technorati Tags: laws of motion, Newton's apple tree, piece of newton's tree goes to space, Sir Isaac Newton, theory of gravity, theory of gravity by newton

Today, I just came across this amazing news about Facebook’s influence globally. The map above is developed by joining connections of each Facebook user with his friends. The brighter lines show maximum connections and nearly a full map of the world becomes visible with some countries and continents boundaries clearly marked! China and Africa are less visible due to lack of facebook users in these areas. More than 500m facebook users contribute to map this world image and as you can see that Pakistan is also clearly marked….

Technorati Tags: facebook, Pakistan, world map

internet privacy

I wish not to share this dreadful story with you all but this is just to inform everyone where and whom to contact for reporting cyber crimes in Pakistan. On one hand it gave me immense pleasure to meet my old friends after decades through facebook, a social networking site known to all. But the  shock and sadness which results in ugly instances like the one reported by ‘The News’ overshadows …..

Kindly note that public can report such cases to the cyber wing through the website: http://www.nr3c.gov.pk/ , fax No. 926666435 and cell number: 0336-6006060.

The News-Islamabad, July 5, 2010: “I can’t face my family,” said Ms. Sana, a newly-wed girl and a victim of internet social networking — Facebook. She had an account on Facebook to share her memories of life and day to day happenings. She had added all family members, within the country and abroad. She had also uploaded her wedding ceremony pictures on her Facebook profile.

One day, while chatting with her sister, the account automatically closed without her signing it out. She tried to sign-in again but could not succeed. Assuming that server might be down she became involved in day-to-day household work.

The very next day, she came to know that her Facebook account had been hacked. That person picked her pictures and some information from it, and made a new account on Facebook using her name, pictures and other information. He threatened her and uploading nude pictures, using her name, on You-Tube — another social networking site.

Her family members — added as friends on her account — saw all that rubbish, making her a stigma for the whole family. This thwarting situation was not only faced by both the family members (parents and in-laws) but also by her sister’s in-laws who broke the engagement as soon as they got to know about it. It was an awful moment for Sana’s sister who is still unable to recover from the shock of his life. Besides, Sana is also striving hard to avoid the divorce stressed hard by her in-laws.

Our society is replete with such incidents, of which, a majority is not reported, at all. The sharing of our beautiful memories through different social networks has now the potential to raze to the ground every possibility of social networking. The way it is affecting the concept of social networking, is going to end all hopes people do have in such sort of websites and community networking groups. Fake identity, blasphemous material and the like are going to kill all the charm people might presently have left with.

“Facebook as a social forum is a very interesting concept, however when it comes to stalking and lifting of information from it, it becomes a very serious issue,” says Ms. Salma Malik, working as assistant professor at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.

In her opinion, the solution is not in the banning of the website, but primarily making the security settings and the administration policies a lot more stringent and better.

To tackle this problem, the government authorities have already established National Response Centre (NR3C) for cyber crimes to curb such crimes of cyber-stalking and criminal access to data. However, only 56 cases have been reported — one year after establishment of this institution. A proper reporting can help to track down such cases. Public can report such cases to the cyber wing through the website: http://www.nr3c.gov.pk/ , fax No. 926666435 and cell number: 0336-6006060.

“Cyber stalking and criminal data access are well defined laws under PECO 2009 and knowing the seriousness of criminal intent and power of cyber stalking; heavy punishment has been kept for this crime,” founder of NR3C Ammar Hussain said.

The state authority, despite using the control mechanisms, seems failing to combat cyber crimes in Pakistan. However, the problem lies at the end of citizens too, who do not dare report it. Media can also play a great role in creating awareness against cyber crimes. — INFN

Technorati Tags: cyber crime, cyber crimes pakistan, facebook, facebook hacking, internet privacy, National Response Center, PECO 2009, privacy, social networking

internet "kill switch"

In olden times the Kings used to build forts for themselves. Forts protected by armies of men. They made walled cities. Even now our presidents and prime minsters enjoy huge protection. It seems ones’ insecurity increases as you reach up the ladder of authority. USA is supposed to be the most powerful country in the world and they have the greatest security concerns. Their concerns have restricted even their own lives.

A new law is being proposed in the US which will give Mr Obama the power to shut internet with the “kill switch”.

Daliy Mail writes “Now they are saying their economic security, national security and public safety are all at risk from new kinds of enemies–cyber-warriors, cyber-spies, cyber-terrorists and cyber-criminals.

The proposed legislation, introduced into the US Senate by Lieberman who is chairman of the US Homeland Security committee, seeks to grant the President broad emergency powers over the internet in times of national emergency.

A sustained terror attack on multiple cities would be considered a national emergency as would a cyber attack by ‘hackers’ on the US financial system.

The director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair warned earlier this year that the US is ‘severely threatened’ by malicious cyber attacks.

TechAmerica, one of the largest U.S. technology lobby groups, said the new law had the ‘potential for absolute power.’.” Read more.

Courtesy – Daily Mail.

Related Links:

http://perezhilton.com/2010-06-18-obama-to-get-an-internet-kill-switch

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/obama-internet-kill-switch-proposed-20100618-yln6.html?autostart=1

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/opinions/view/opinion/Obamas-Internet-Kill-Switch-Good-Idea-or-Step-Too-Far-4046/

Technorati Tags: cyber terrorism, internet, internet shut down. daily mail, kill switch, obama

Privacy on facebook

FACEBOOK AT IT AGAIN- TRAMPLING OUR PRIVACY RIGHTS

By Maryam Qamar (Guest blogger)

I’ve really had it with facebook today. While at my house,When my friend signed in to her FB account, she was surprised to see some guy’s home page open up.When she tried to logout, it wouldnt. And when she hit the refresh page button, to our utter amazement, another person’s page opened up. We tried to reopen FB in another explorer, logout, refresh and what-not. But it was with anger that I watched one after another many people’s accounts open up in front of our eyes. This is our privacy. The end of it all. If I can see so many people’s accouts I wonder how many can see mine. Gone to waste are my customised privacy settings.I do not trust FB any longer. They can and will do whatever they want and whenever they want. Whether you find out or not is a totally different story.They will always be ready to comfort you and tell you that this wont happen again. But I dont think that for a single second more will i give them the key to my account…I really cannot afford to have my privacy compromised time and again. Its high time that we understand what FB is…and what it has the power to do….and let me assure you…NOONE can stop it.I would advise everyone to think twice before handing their personal info to unknown people who have the power of the internet at their disposal. Think about what this can do to you.Before its too late.THINK!!!

Technorati Tags: facebook, facebook privacy, FB, personal information on facebook