Random Rants

Useful Info for Pakistani Tourists

2007-07-03T11:12:00.000+05:00

For the countries, where visa is not required for Pakistani nationals or Pakistani passport holders. They can stay as long as they like (Unlimited number of days).

Trinidad & Tobago

For countries, where Pakistani nationals or passport holders can get "Visa On Arrival". Meaning, they can get it after arriving at their airport for specified number of days.

American Samoa (30 days)
Bangladesh (15 days)
Macau (30 days)
Madagascar (90 days)
Malaysia (30 days)
Maldives (30 days)
Nepal (03 days)
Samoa (30 days)
Sri Lanka (30 days)
Togo (07 days)

However, make sure to confirm it from embassy of the respective country prior to departure, as visa requirements are ever-changing.

Note: These are valid for Tourist visas only. Most of these countries have very strict rules against work, which can lead you to heavy fines, jail and deportation.

Here is a website to check the visa requirements for Pakistan or any other country. Some of the content may be a bit old, but its fairly updated:
Visa & Passport Information

Listening to: Rihanna Featuring Jay-Z - Umbrella

Tagged

2007-02-17T12:05:00.000+05:00

.name: Umer
.nicknames: remu, OKTG, Phobos
.height - 5'11
.star sign - Scorpio
.hair color - Brown
.eyes - Dark Brown
.birthplace - Multan
.current residence - Karachi
.sport - Limited to watching poker and playing video games (are they sports?)
.closest friends - Sallu, zodi, Psyco, Shaikh, Camille
.how many phones - 2
.bedrooms - 2
.look like anyone famous - Don't think so
.where do you want to get married - hmmm... never thought about it
.job - Banking
.braces - Nope
.do you bite your nails : Nah
.can you roll your tongue : Little bit
.can you do a cartwheel : No
.can you raise one eyebrow at a time : Yeah!
.can you blow smoke rings : I don't smoke
.do you make your bed daily : Never
.do you sleep naked : LOL, no!
.how much money is usually in your wallet: Rs. 860 + my debit card
.which shoe goes on first : Right... no, left... umm... not sure.
.where do u keep your clothes : Closet, but never put them myself (call me spolied)
.speaking of shoes, have you thrown one at someone?: Of course!
.Democrat/Republican : Democrat
.whats your opinion on Bill Clinton and his marriage scandal: Better president than bush, but a desperate man

FAVORITE:

.singer: Maroon5
.color: Black, Blue and Teal
.song: Wish You Were Here
.tv show: Southpark
.fruit: Oranges
.instrument: Guitar
.ice cream: Caramal Crunch
.coffee drink: Dont drink coffee or tea
.panty style: Smallest possible! :P
.day of the week: Saturday
.place to be kissed: None (I think I dont like to be kissed)
.web site: CX
.relative: Areeba
.porn: None
.name: D!
.mind altering substance: Pwning someone good at arcade fighting

DESCRIBE YOUR:

.Wallet - Dont have one (Dont keep since my last one got snatched)
.Hairbrush - I dont comb or brush
.Toothbrush - Purple and white .... (Purple?!... i need to change my brush!)
.Watch - None (I need to get one)
.Jewelry worn daily - None
.Room - PC, Sofa-cum-bed, Table, Curtains
.Pillow cover - Brown
.Blanket - Brown
.Coffee cup - Black or White
.Sunglasses - Dont have one (Space already taken by vision correction glasses)
.Shoes - Big and Black
.Cologne/Perfume - Denim
.CD in stereo right now - American Idiot by Greenday
.Tattoos - None
.Piercings - No
.What you are wearing now - Gray shirt and dark dray pants
.Hair - Small and spikey

LOVE AND RELATIONSHIPS

.Are u taken by someone : Nope
.Who : See above
.Why do u like them : Same
.When is the date you two began going out : Ditto
are you willing to try the other side: Say what?!

WHO or WHAT :

.Wishing - I need a break from hectic job
.Talking to - Somebody I hate
.Eating - Nothing... more like, drinking water
.Person you wish you could see right now - Tyler Durden
.Is next to you - Phone, cellphone, water bottle, post it pad, calender, calculator, loads of paper and PC!
.Some of your favorite movies - Fight Club, Event Horizon, Cruel Intentions, The Matrix, Pitch Black, Rounders
.Something you're looking forward to in the upcoming month - Thinking of going to china
.The last thing you ate - Omlette and bread
.Something that you are deathly afraid of - Being in a bloody road accident
.Do you believe in love - Not really sure
.Do you believe in soul mates - No
.Do you believe in love at first sight - No
.Do you believe in Heaven - Absolutely!
.Do you believe in forgiveness - Yeah
.Do you believe in God - 100%
.What do you want done with your body when you die - Buried
.Who is your worst enemy - A colleague
.If you could have any animal for a pet, what would it be - Cat!
.What is the latest you've ever stayed up - 2 days
.Can you eat with chopsticks - Never tried, but I think I can
.What's your favorite coin - The cojoined double coin I have in my coin collection
.What are 5 cities you wouldn't mind relocating to - Multan, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Mexico city, Shanghai
.What are some of your favorite pig out foods - pig out food?
.What's something that you wish people would understand - Sacrifice
.What's something you wish you could understand better - Honesty and Truthfulness
.Anyone you miss that you haven't seen in a long time - My grandparents
.person you talk most on the phone with: A friend
.do you use an alarm clock : Nah, mom is enough!
.name one thing or person you're obsessed with?: KOF
.have you ever skinny dipped with the opposite sex: Nope
.ever sunbathed in the nude : Never
.window seat or aisle : Window seat.
.whats your sleeping position : On right side, with my hand under head
.what kind of bed do you like : Not too soft
.do you snore : No
.do you sleepwalk : No, unless I am sick
.do you talk in your sleep: Yes -__-;;;
.how about the light on : Can't sleep with lights on
.do you fall asleep with the tv or radio on : Sometimes, when music is playing on PC
.been abused? : Never
.kissed someone : Yes
.watched bambi : Never
.cried : Not since childhood
.talked on the phone : Is there anyone who hasn't?
.read a book : Yeah!
.punched someone : Yep!

DO YOU

.do you curse : Occasionally
.do you mumble to yourself : LOL, sometimes
.do you spit in public : Nope
.do you pee in the shower : Nah

LAST

. last car ride: Ride to work on taxi 3 hours ago
. last good cry: Don't remember (must be very long time ago)
. last book read: Eldest by Christopher Paolini
. last beverage drank: Pepsi
. last food consumed: Omlette and Bread
. last crush: Not too long ago
. last phone call: Falak
. last tv show watched: Prison Break
. last time showered: 4 hours ago
. last shoes worn: Slippers
. last annoyance: Evil_Yagami
. last disappointment: Can't recall anything
. last key used: My office drawer key
. last word spoken: "OK!"
. last bottom things worn: Shoes
. last shirt worn: Grey shirt
. last movie you saw in a theatre: Casino Royale
. last song that was stuck in your head: Just A Little While by Janet Jackson
. last person you were thinking of: Imran Baloch (Just heard about his demise)
. last person who said they love you: Mom
. last person who made you mad: My boss's boss

R I G H T N O W...

. listening to: Just A Little While by Janet Jackson
. how's your mood: Fine (Looking forward to the weekend)
. what time is it: 11:18 am
. what are you eating: Nothing

I N T H E L A S T 2 4 H O U R S...

. Bought something? Lunch at Pizza Hut
. Sang? Yeah
. Felt stupid? Yep
. Wanted to tell someone you loved them, but didn't? Nope
. Missed someone? Not really
. Hugged someone? No
. Fought with your parents? Nope

FUTURE

.where do you see yourself ten years from now : Somewhere not in pakistan
.who are you gonna be married to and where : None decided
.How many babies do you want : 2 or 3
.your profession : MIS

10 things you're looking forward to:

1. Getting tapes of KOF2002 tourney
2. KOFXII news and character lineup
3. Getting my degree
4. Having possession of a car
5. Trip to somewhere outside pakistan, China perhaps
6. My next bonus
7. Month of April, when I'll start to look for better job
8. Saturday night's gathering
9. Starting my own business
10. The afterlife

7 things that worry you:

1. Getting my degree
2. When my boss's boss gets fed up with me
3. KOF2002 tapes not having good enough quality for editing
4. Arcade fighting scene ending in the city
5. Sis wedding
6. Getting fat
7. Getting sick due to no physical activity

6 objects you touch every day:

1. Cellphone
2. Keyboard
3. Lunch
4. Clothes
5. Paper
6. Water bottle

5 things you do every day:

1. Getting late to work
2. Getting late in coming back
3. Using PC
4. Eating food
5. Hating my job

2 foods that you couldn't live without:

1. Water
2. And some more water

3 of your favorite songs these days:

1. How to Save a Life
2. Lips of an Angel
3. If I Were You

.people that have influenced your life the most: Eikichi Kawasaki
. person you could spend the rest of your life with: None

Learn from mistakes

2007-02-14T10:54:00.000+05:00

Some people will just... never learn. Its even more frustrating when they argue that their actions are justifiable in the given circumstances

My advice, LEARN... Learn from your past mistakes. If falling on your face hurt the first time, doing it again will have same results.

Anyway, who am I to care. I can only advice as a good friend.

Wishing you a great Valentine's Day

Listening to: Mary J. Blige - Be Without You

Hex. Ethical or Unethical?

2007-01-18T16:12:00.000+05:00

Combo making using Hex (Hexa Decimal) is a method of making fighting game combos (now, superplays runs too) in Winkawaks. In this method, you do not actually need to play the game. Instead, you create a combo (or run) by creating a Kawaks recinput in a Hexa-decimal software application. In simpler words, it is simulating keyboard/joystick inputs in machine language and playing them in Winkawaks. The origin of method, who created it or how, is unknown to me. However, it is said that it was invented by Chinese combo makers, when they broke the code of Winkawaks and its method of recording joypad/keyboard input in the recinput file.

The method gained wide importance when some of very famous combo makers of King Of Fighters community were discovered to be using them. They were using it to make their quite-popular combo videos. Upon discovery, the combo community (especially, Brazilian and Pakistani combo makers) back lashed hard on them, since the Hex combo makers were originally claiming to be extremely skilled (They had their combo videos to prove it), although the method does not require ANY skill, other than, just basic understanding of game's fighting system.

At that time, Hex was denounced by big combo makers of the community who were doing them with skills. However, the scenario changed with time. It has changed slowly, but significantly. The Hex slowly crept back into the community, even turning the people who were originally against them. Also thanks to the Hex users, who felt no shame in spreading the required tools and skills to make combos using hex. Now, it is increasingly spreading among combo makers.

Personally, I was against it from the beginning. I condemned its usage in the past and still make sure to my best that Cyberfanatix produced videos are free from it. Unfortunately, I am among the few left, who think it is unethical. And here are my reasons:

Combos (or plays), in their core, are just strategies. In case of combos, they are “strategies” to eat maximum health of your opponent. When the first combo maker made a video, he made it for this very reason. They are nothing more. Hexers (Hex users) often claim that combos are for entertainment.
Reiterating, combos are not for entertainment. Yes, they are entertainment to the extent that you impress your opponent and onlooker by pulling out a eye candy combo in a versus match or in a combo video. But what makes a Hexer then? That you are an excellent Hex programmer? What does it have to do with playing games?? Why not just make impossible combos using cheats/Mugen then??? Won’t it be more entertaining?
Hexers also claim that, although it does not require skills, but it takes creativity to make impressive combos. This is wrong assumption. Hex doesn’t tell you if you can connect a certain move in a combo or not. You cannot know that, unless you have played the game competitively (or against CPU).
IMO, Hexers just watch other combo makes, who put their sweat and blood to make a video, and improve the combos by few hits and beat real combo makers (example: 7 taps instead of 5, or, merge two different combo, or, perform an insanely difficult chain repeatedly). It is unfair. In fact, this discourages the real creative people, without whom Hexers cannot know the game system.
You can ask Hex users how to do the Yamazaki 100% in KOF2002, they will tell you. But ask them strategies on how to beat a decent Billy user with Yamazaki, and they go blank. This is not natural. You learn these things BEFORE you can pull heavy combos.
Hex users are not skilled and loyal. They hardly know anything about a game, because Love for fighting games and characters, develops when you keep playing the game and using your favorite characters. Most hex users hardly play games, or not play it enough to be skilled. I personally hate when loyal gamers are beaten by hexers. (It actually happens quite often in case of Super plays).
Hexers cannot discover bugs. Bugs are only found by accident, mostly in real versus match. Hex only plays predefined inputs.
Most pro gamers are unaware of Hex, naively mistake hex combos to be humanly possible and get impressed by the skills. Often end up wasting time on these combos by searching for their shortcuts or methods, or practicing to pull them off in a game. Check the forums; they are full of questions we, real gamers, cannot answer.

It is a sad fact that some of the big combo makers of community have changed sides. People who were originally among the Hex haters, are now using it themselves.I take the blame too, since we have hosted their work more than often, even though, some of the combos are clearly not humanly possible. But what can you do when video fans care less about the authenticity themselves now.

Missing the days when combo makers used to be good players too, not just a bunch of programmers.

Combo making, in its essence, is about having skills and creativity. Hex is certainly NOT it. It discourages it. I'll end this with a quote from someone.

WINNERS DON'T USE HEX

Listening to: Oasis - Lyla

Eragon Reviewed.

2007-01-09T11:09:00.000+05:00

Finished reading Eragon.

Before continuing my rants about the book, I must say that, there is not a single book that compares to Different Seasons by Stephen King. Literally sent chills through my spine. It is by far the best of all I have read, including the one I am about to rant about.

Coming back to the subject. Don't be fooled by my nickname on MSN (Shur'tugal), Paolini (the author) failed to impress me. The story dived down as soon as Dragon hatched, just like its movie adaptation on Box office. Most of the book reading was tedious as much as the characters themselves found it traveling through the world of Algaesia. With nothing interesting happening during the story until you reach a city. It made me remember Final Fantasy VIII (an RPG game), where you have to do frustrating random battles just to increase level of characters, so you can make the story progress in the next city.

Another boring aspect of the book was, when you have to read pages and pages of Paolini describing a scenery. (e.g. How a river looked beautiful, how Saphira looked beautiful with her scales shining, or how scary was Helgrind mountain). I know that it is necessary to make the readers understand the situation and make them feel like they are there, but Paolini just took it to the extreme. In later part of book, you can't help but skip through these unnecessary blabber, and get to the part where story really progresses.

Except for the cool sounding names of places, and words of ancient languages, I found myself sharing Ra'zacs feelings towards Eragon. I would only recommend this book if you are Lord of the ring fan, and looking for more of the same.

Hoping to see the movie real soon. Although it failed to generate enough interest on the Box office, but I expect it to be better than book, since there will be no more tedious journeys and Paolini's rambling.

Listening to: Manic Street Preachers - Empty Souls

Excerpt from an Email

2006-12-19T09:22:00.000+05:00

I saw a good quote on IMDB today.

"Don't look for trouble when there isn't any... 'cause if you don't find it, you end up creating it."

~ Edward Nathan from The Misadventures of Margaret

LOL! yeah the ironical nature of the quote is laughable. I especially feel it more since it seems to fit my situation in recent times. Of course, this would not have been humor to me, if I had read this 2 weeks ago.

The whole day was lazy today. Everything seems to be going in slow motion right now (matrix bullet time style, haha). Seems I didn't get much sleep last night. pfft! just four hours. I am ass at managing time :D

But I found something interesting. Laziness is not related to happiness! You can be lazy and joyful at the same time. Which is currently my mood. Content as a carefree mustang :)

Listening to: Ash - Clones

RE: PS3 concerns in Pakistan

2006-12-05T17:55:00.000+05:00

In response to a fellow countryman blogger, Munis (See his post HERE)

PS3 has actually arrived in Pakistan just after the Japanese launch.

There were two pieces that made to Pakistan. Once of which is already sold for 75,000 PKR (3,000 short of price in UAE). The other piece, according to last news, was still waiting for its buyer. I don't know if its 20GB or 60 GB version.
See above. Yep, it reached our shores much quicker than Xbox 360.
As far as mod chip is concerned. PS3 is region-free. So, you don't need any kind of modification to run you PAL or NTSC games on the same console. BUT, I agree with your stance that it is not wise to buy the game at this stage:

The price is too high right now.
The game media price is indeed on higher side. But you cannot deny that PS3 is worth alone for giving you the pleasures of watching movies on Blu-ray (If you can get one in Pakistan, though). Even DVD quality is pale in comparision.
Being a fighting game fan, yeah the games library is poor at the moment. Tekken 6 will not be out until 2007. And the only worthy game right now, Need For Speed: Carbon, is available on PC anyway (Some sources tell me that full PC version is out in Pakistan now).

However, in comparision with Xbox 360, I would suggest that you wait till PS3's price goes down and PS3 gets some good games on it. Till then, stick to your good ol' PS2... Or you can get Nintendo Wii! now thats what you call an innovative piece of hardware!

Listening to: The Fray - How To Save A Life

Borat

2006-11-06T16:44:00.000+05:00

Five years ago, one of my good friend, H2H (Highway-2-Hell) introduced me a television show little known outside Britain. It was about a character called Ali G, played by Sacha Baron Cohen. The show was called Da Ali G Show. Ali G is an ignorant black/gangster/rapper reporter interviewing different real people of the community. The people he interviews don't know that he is actually not a real reporter and is pretending to be a black British (Though, Sacha himself is a Welsh Jew and does not look black even one bit, making it even more funny). The show was excellent and full of humor since he really puts his interviewees in awkward situations.

During the final few episodes of Ali G in Britain, before he started appearing in videos of well-known artists like Madonna and Shaggy, he created another persona called Borat. Also a reporter, this time of Kazakhstani origin, but equally humorous. The show then moved to HBO in USA, where he continued to play around with both his Ali G and Borat personas. He also introduced another one, Bruno, an Austrian fashion journalist. However, Borat became center of the show.

This year Borat not only hosted the MTV EMAs (Europe Music Awards), but also just released a much hyped movie on his character. The movie, titled Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan was released on 3 days ago on 3rd November. It already took over the USA box office with 26.4 millions during the weekend alone.

The reviews of the movie already very positive, some of them claiming it to be the funniest movie of the year. All of them agree that its nearly impossible to NOT get offended by Borat's humor. He made fun of virtually everyone, Americans, Kazakhstani, Uzbekistani, Jews, women, blacks, gypsies, and more, but the movie will make you laugh so hard that your stomach will start aching. I have seen some of its clips and they are extremely hilarious!

I have not seen the movie yet, and don't want to spoil all the fun for you. But I am enough fan of Sacha to not miss this one, and recommend everyone to go see it.

So, if you like Sacha in Ali G, you will love him even more in his Borat persona.

Quote

2006-10-31T14:49:00.000+05:00

"What is worth of anything we do?"

"The worth is in the act. Your worth halts when you surrender the will to change and experience life. But options are before you; choose one and dedicate yourself to it. The deeds will give you new hope and purpose."

"But what can I do?"

"The only true guide is your heart. Nothing less than its supreme desire can help you."

- From the conversation between Eragon and Saphira, from chapter A Rider's Blade.

You can be a great psychologist, Paolini.

Listening to: Marilyn Manson - Ka-boom Ka-boom

0.999... = 1

2006-10-27T16:47:00.000+05:00

Fractional Proof:
3 × 0.333… = 0.999…
0.333… = 1⁄3
3 × 0.333… = 3 × 1⁄3
0.999… = 1

Today is my birthyday... and I am bored to death :(

Listening to: Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor

Broadband... or something like it

2006-10-22T10:51:00.000+05:00

Got a shiny new internet connection with decent speed after my cable operator upgraded to fibre optic.
Point to note: it is still a novelty in Pakistan.

Already addicted to YouTube. You have to check it out if you have good connection!

Listening to: Hoobastank - If I Were You

Eragon

2006-10-19T15:12:00.000+05:00

Started reading today.

Eragon by Christopher Paolini

Christopher Paolini started writing this book at the age of 15. Pfft! I must be crazy... but so are million others who made this book bestseller on every list.

Excited, of going back to reading, a long lost habit eversince I started working.

Listening to: The Killers - When You Were Young

Ranting continued...

2006-10-17T13:09:00.000+05:00

Muhahaha!... I am on break for next three days. Now listen to this:

3 days leave (18 - 20 Oct)

2-days weekend (21 Oct is my alternate-Saturday-off and 22 Oct is Sunday)

3 days of Eid-ul-Fitr (23 - 25 Oct)

And you've got a nifty 8 days of nothing but relaxation (Yeah!) and "returning due favors".

Sometimes it is difficult to figure out what you try to achieve with your life. It can get hard to make up mind. There are always too many complications in making big decisions of life. Starting from the very basic rules of society, that are never supposed in any case. Otherwise, you just end up losing face with people. This is probably the reason you tend to act strange with sudden change in attitude as a self-defence mechanism.

Am I am getting more confused... Or could it be because I am seeing things more clearly now and have made up my mind to move on?
Am I really being more practical... Or do I enjoy making people miserable and watching them beg me?

I hope latter is not the case. Gotta keep hanging on. Thats probably the only way to settle the mind.

I really hate the people who try to look concerned when they are really not!

Listening to: R.E.M. - The Great Beyond

Weekend Fabulous

2006-10-16T10:28:00.000+05:00

Science must look into this strange phenomena of time accelerating during weekends. I mean, why does time flies by when you are enjoying it the most, and stagnates during your worst hours?

Weekend was great unlike the last one. It feels so great that people take your creation too seriously. So seriously that they are miserable when you deprive them of using it. It does make you feel like at the top of the world... Infact, I really am on top of the world! having achieved highest reach among all my rivals... Sounds so good... Kekeke! I am just blessed to have such great people along my side.

Listening to: JoJo - Too Little Too Late

Is it just me or JoJo feels like what Lindsay Lohan should have been?

Leadership Lessons

2006-10-14T18:13:00.000+05:00

Every employee has his/her personal goals that he/she ultimately strives to achieve. A good leader/manager needs to align those goals with the overall goal of the organization. But some leaders are just damn big failure at doing it! They keep complaining that a certain subordinate prioritizes his/her own life against the work. C'mon, not everyone has no life like them. I wish I could slap them back to management school and get some sense in them.

I just lost a much-needed leave of one week from work, but somehow I don't feel bad about it. Probably because its Saturday today (weekend ahead) and I can always take them up later.

Listening to: David Usher - Black Black Heart

Freedom of Speech

2006-10-13T15:02:00.000+05:00

Blogspot is blocked in Pakistan. Its official!

Tried to view it last night at home but couldn't do it. I thought it had something to do with advertisements, since (yet-to-confirmed) some ISPs have blocked certain ad companies in Pakistan. My site's ad is from one of those blocked companies. Luckily, my cable's second server uses a different ISP. So, I have to change my proxy settings to view my site. But last night, changing the proxy settings didn't help it either, although it always does when I try to login my website.

I overheard my brother that the goverment has blocked it. What-the-hell!
I thought Pervez Musharraf was doing a great job at restoring the democracy and free speech. For a military leader, no doubt he has done it better than any other "elected" leader in the history of the country, but this is outrageous!

Blogging is like breathing to a internet user. Hard to imagine surviving on internet without it.

Listening to: Keane - Is It Any Wonder

A place for my rants

2006-10-12T14:06:00.000+05:00

This is my first post on my blog.
I plan to make it a place where I can fume out. In other words, mindless ranting that nobody cares about.

Thanks to a great friend who inadvertently influenced me to make it.

Listening to: The All-American Rejects - Move Along