Windows blue by Muhammad Umer

The long awaited windows blue which is the next update of the

 windows 8 was leaked on internet. Windows blue has introduced

 some very significant changes and improvements to the already

 released windows 8 which would make this window much more

 fun and easier to operate.

The main features of the windows blue include new sizes for icon

 tiles,50:50 snap option ,improvement in the setting panel and

 features like share charm. Windows blue has introduced the 2

 new sizes for the icon tiles in addition to the previous sizes in

 windows 8. Now the users can have teeny tiny icons sized tiles

 similar to the ones that are present in the windows phone8 and the

 giant sized tiles which are almost the double of the previous

 largest tile. The users can now fine tune the color of desktop

 background with many different shades of the same color. There

 is a variety of choices between the colors and the user can select

 the color of the background and then select the shade of the same

 color.

Use of 'Technology' as solution for energy crisis.

Well everybody knows that Pakistan is passing through a critical situation due to energy crisis; this is not only portraying a negative effect on the economy of the Pakistan but it’s ruining the country’s image worldwide. So, due to energy crisis both the agriculture and industry sector are collapsing so badly. As we all know that Pakistan is a developing country and naturally it’s enrich with the fertile soil, this country could produce enough to stable the country’s economy as well as GDP growth but there should be proper policies and upgraded technology.

As we all know that Pakistan is a developing country so more work is carried out in the agriculture sector, but this primary and most important sector of the country is still affected by the energy crises, the past government did not come with any new technology to promote this sector. The most important energy technology which could help this sector is solar energy. The basic need for agriculture is a tube well for irrigation, farmers those who usually use tube well for irrigation purpose they had an electricity problem we can avoid such problems by fixing solar energy panels to tube well for the effective and efficient production.

We all know that there are large numbers of mills are located in this country for example steel mills, rice mill, sugar mills and so many other, let’s talk about sugar mills, their waste (Bagasse) is one the cheaper renewable fuel to generate electricity so each and every mill owner should fix their own plant to generate the electricity for their own sugar plant. The government of Pakistan should take another step to attract the sugary industry owners to setup co-generation Bagasse/Biomass technology based power plants. Not only sugar mills but also rice husking mill, food processing center, livestock farm or from where ever we are getting the bio-waste. Government should start inventing, importing or introducing such technology to the country and ask mill owners/ bio-waste producer to install such machinery to adopt new techniques of producing electricity.

Energy crises are increasing day by day, annually large percentage of MW is increasing but the past government has failed to meet up the expected requirement.  PPP and PML-N policies regarding electricity production were not good enough those could help us out us from such crises, so we need a serious government about solving these energy crises and that is PTI. Their policies regarding energy crises are typical but we had a hope from them that they would do something for this country. Hydel energy, installing wind turbines in Sindh and Balochistan region which would help us in producing large number of electricity, gas pipelines (between Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and India), the most important is Thar coal project which would give definite extensive electricity with an effective cost and the China’s nuclear project. These are the main sources from where Pakistan can earn the large number of MW and such policies are PTI’s main priority.

The BEAST

As the Galaxy S counter flips another digit, Samsung has hopes of getting an even tighter grip on the smartphone market, and reasserting its Android dominance. With two of the main rivals enjoying a head-start to the market, the Samsung Galaxy S4 would need to be something special to quickly erase their lead. Not to mention, it's looked upon to match, and outdo, its predecessor. And by the first impressions of the smartphone, that might be not be as tall an order as it sounds.

The new Samsung flagship improves on just about every aspect of the previous generation, coupling more powerful hardware with another handful of new software features. With a bunch of new sensors too, the Galaxy S4 aims to be your must-have all-in-one tool.

The main features in S4 include

1)      13 megapixel camera with simultaneous video and photo capturing

2)      Dual video call at one time

3)      2Ghz Snapdragon processor and 2Gb RAM

4)      Barometer, thermometer, hygroscope

5)      IR gesture sensor for Air gestures

6)      Smart gestures: Smart stay, Smart pause, Smart scroll

7)      Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic

8)      Ample 2600 mAh battery with great endurance

9)      7.9mm thickness

10)  Smart volume and Adapt Sound features for the music player

By now Samsung Galaxy S4 is the fastest and up to date cell phone available in the market. It has attracted wide range of audience and its sales are predicted to be double to that of its predecessor Samsung Galaxy S3 which was able to make its way as “World’s Best Smartphone” as well as hitting a homerun of selling 50 million units.

The Super HD Amoled Plus screen with 1080 pixels of screen resolution have set a new benchmark in cell phone technology. The following picture clearly represents that how Samsung was able to clean sweep its competitors.

One of the top Competitors of S4 are

1)      Apple IPhone 5

2)      LG Optimus G

3)      HTC One

4)      Sony Xperia Z

Apple:-

Apple is trying hard to compete in the competitive environment but is unable to gain market share because now almost every single cell phone uses Andriod Software which is user friendly and have many features to play with and Samsung with its superb resolution and faster programing have captured a great amount of market share from Apple.

LG Optimus G;-

The main issue with LG is its brand position in the market. People don’t take LG for granted and its new flagship despite of having many amazing features was unable to attract the audience and hence Samsung with is astounding promotion and a high level of budget for promotion was able to disturb LG optimus pro to a great extent.

Sony Xperia Z:-

Water resistant and dust proof smart phone with Sony Bravia Engine 2 was still not able to beat the beast and the reason behind that was the lack of consumer loyalty to brand as well as higher price of the product,

HTC ONE;-

Aluminum body with Beats Audio and 4 Ultra pixel camera HTC gave the biggest competition to Samsung Galaxy S4 but still could not beat the immense power and a bunch of gestures of Samsung.

The Samsung Galaxy S line has produced some of the best smartphones over the years,

and the Galaxy S4 lives up to its legacy. Some consider it an evolutionary step from the Galaxy S III, others would go ahead and call it a revolution, there's the third kind too who insist it's a mere rehash.

Without getting into the semantics, I believe the S4 to be a worthy update over its predecessor, which was already one of the most capable smartphones around.

Let's run it down: the big 5" screen fits into a very compact body (same footprint as the Galaxy S III and slimmer), the new 1080p Super AMOLED matrix offers a significant improvement in image quality, the 13MP camera is one of the best around and, performance-wise, the Galaxy S4 will probably hold the crown until the Galaxy Note III comes around.

Written By:-   Hassan Masood

LG OPTIMUS G

After Htc, Nokia and Samsung , Now LG  releases an Apple-bashing ad.

When it comes to Gossip, backbiting and jealousy, ladies are not the only one doing them, if we see on much larger scale these kinds of things even exists between large multinationals. In few recent years Apple has emerged as a big force in the tech industry and when you are running most profitable business in your industry, you are entitled get a fair share of competition.

In the Smartphone industry this is proved time and again by Samsung, Nokia and others with the making of Apple bashing ads. Now LG has joined the ranks. This year can be considered as a pretty good year for them against the giant countryman Samsung. LG has succeeded in making a wonderful device like the Optimus G and on top of that it landed the offer for this year's Nexus phone by Google, So there is no way it can be underestimated.

It leaves no room for the doubts in the people’s mind about the intended meaning of the advertisement. The advertisement also included some trash talk, about which the

LG commented on with the following: 

“Our posters contain facts on the iPhone 5, and is not slander. It is just a fact that is has no NFC, no DMB. Its screen is comparatively small so that is also true. Other nuanced phrases are usually adopted for marketing. We are absolutely not targeting Apple as a company and the messages on the posters are not our official stance.”

Careers for Blind and Visually Impaired Individuals

One of the damaging stereotypes about blindness is the belief that the blind are limited to a specific and finite "list" of jobs that "blind people can do." Even when we hear about a blind person who is doing something new  we either discount it (she is the exception) or we just add one more "job that blind people can do" to our list.  Seldom do we rethink our inaccurate assumptions about blindness

KMC (Karachi Metropolitan Corporation) Administrator Muhammad Hussain Syed said the number of sightless people in Pakistan had crossed the 16 Lac mark. 

The administrator on this occasion expressed concern over the regular increase in the number of people with visual impairment. He said it sounds good that the blind people too want to earn their livelihood respectfully by not putting any burden on the society. He also asked the private institutions and multinational companies to provide jobs to blind people in their offices and factories so that they could earn livelihood for their family. He said that these people were gifted with extra capabilities by Almighty Allah.

People who are blind or visually impaired can perform almost any job you can imagine: lawyer, artist, accountant, secretary, customer service representative, food service worker, factory worker, financial analyst, teacher, medical transcriptionist, day care worker, counselor, computer programmer, cook, salesperson, clerk, and more. We cannot count the number of different jobs people who are blind or visually impaired are engaged in today or will be in the future. The possibilities are tremendous.

Legislative and societal changes have reduced discrimination toward visually impaired workers as attitudes toward people with disabilities generally have improved. Employers, especially in midsized and large businesses, routinely follow equal employment opportunity practices and have diversity and disability-accommodation processes in place. Available assistive technology makes it easier for people who are visually impaired to perform many jobs that they never could have before. Proper training, appropriate tools, the ability to sell oneself, and a willing attitude on the part of employers constitute a winning formula.

Yet in Pakistan, even with all the technology and legislative changes only a handful of the visually impaired are being employed.  The government’s quota of hiring 2 percent of the visually impaired is not enough.  The government also needs to enforce some laws for the multinationals to hire the visually impaired individuals to support the cause and make the organizations give the proper accommodations the visually impaired individuals require.

Accommodations to the work environment or an individual's work situation can be made that enables a person with disabilities to perform work duties as well as (but not always in the same way) as his or her co-workers without disabilities. Accommodations that have proven effective and affordable for workers with visual impairments include Glare reduction and adjusted lighting. Voice or e-mail messages instead of handwritten notes. Desk or laptop computers adapted with screen-reading (synthesized speech), screen magnification, and/or optical character recognition (OCR) software. Scanners, larger-than-average monitors, and/or braille display devices can be added as peripherals. Large print, tactile, or talking calipers, scales, tape measures, thermometers, blood pressure cuffs, calculators, money identifiers, and cash registers. Aids to mobility for people who are blind or visually impaired include long canes, dog guides, electronic travel aids, special telescopes to read signs, use of public transit, and carpooling.

Islamabad learning center broadens horizons for blind people - Video Dailymotion

Written by Daniyal Nadeem

 

If Oxford can, Then we must!!! By Muhammad Umer

Apple always loves to be a part of cutting edge innovative technologies. This time Oxford university students told the world that iPad can do a bit more than just making good music for you. Oxford University’s engineering students proved their point by carving out a very innovative idea which allows a car to drive itself with a bit of a help from the Apple’s iPad. They gave a whole new meaning to the word “automatic car” when the Nissan Leaf an electric car drove seamlessly through stretches of private roads.

This system is still in the testing phase and not yet fully ready for the general public use but the idea seems very lucrative as at least it will give drivers some soothing time with their hands of the steering wheels.

This technology is very low cost and it said to be using none of the traditional GPS technologies despite the fact that it is much of a navigation system itself.  Besides GPS this technology is very much independent as it uses a series of small cameras and lasers built into the car which are directly linked with a very intelligent computer placed in the boot space of the car. The role of iPad here is that it provides easy to use interface which allows the driver to switch to the auto drive. As we see in the cruise control function of the cars that if the brake is touched at any point, the auto drive element is abandoned, and normal driving is resumed.

As stated by the oxford University’s professor Paul Newman that the this technology is being developed so as to provide some respite to the tired drivers as the life is becoming more and more stressed with the school runs and drive homes which serves as a very obvious reasons for it. As many other he did not fantasize the idea of the cars being driven by themselves but instead, sees this as "low cost, low footprint autonomy" as "what’s needed for everyday use."

Some cars are already equipped with the automatic parking assist which mainly uses GPS / Sat Nav and becoming very popular among the people. This technology is surely taking it to a new level and can be perceived as a natural next step in the future of fully automated cars.

If the Oxford University students can do it than Pakistani students are no less than them. We need to motivate our young talented students and support them so that they can make such great innovations and make Pakistan proud.

Recycling: A Necessity or An Intelligent Move

Health is one of the rising issues in Pakistan. No one gets fresh food to eat. These days the farmers are more concerned about the quantity they are producing than the methods they are using to produce it. Using fertilizers and producing vegetables before time with artificial feed is what we are producing for the people of our country, which is in fact extremely harmful.

Did you ever think that flushing the water closet is convenient, but it can create ecological disaster due to unavailability of proper drainage and sewage systems and so it also deprives the soil from essential nutrients. As the soil fails to get the natural nutrients that will make it fertile it has to rely on fossil fuels to make food production. 

rely on fossil fuels to make food production.

For 4,000 years, human and animal excrement and urine were considered extremely valuable trade products in China, Korea and Japan. Human dung was transported over specially designed canal networks by boats. When we grow crops, we withdraw essential nutrients from the soil: potassium, nitrogen and phosphate, to name but the most important. During the greater part of human history, we recycled these nutrients through our bodies and returned them to the soil, via excreta, food trimmings and the burial of dead. Today, we flush them mostly into the sea.

We can classify these problems in three different sectors:

Firstly the sewage is dumped in the rivers, lakes and seas which kill fish and the fresh water is polluted which is contaminated and leads to water borne diseases like cholera. Secondly, we need artificial fertilizers to keep our soil fertile. In 2008, almost 160 million tons of inorganic fertilizers were used worldwide. Without these, our agricultural soils would lose their fertility in just a few years’ time, followed by an inevitable collapse of food production and human population. A third problem is that the water closet logically consumes large quantities of fresh water to flush everything "away", which is wasting the fresh water that could be used to drink.

The animal dung can be used not only as a fertilizer but also as a source of producing energy. Pakistan suffers because we are not using the resources efficiently and effectively. Let’s think for a while what is the most important crisis that Pakistan is facing? Yes you are right, “Energy Crisis”. Now, if we see the livestock of Pakistan and the dung that is produced we can easily use that dung to produce energy.

Cow dung gas is 55-65% methane, 30-35% carbon dioxide, with some hydrogen, nitrogen and other traces. Its heating value is around 600 B.T.U. per cubic foot. Cow dung slurry is composed of 1.8-2.4% nitrogen, 1.0-1.2% phosphorus, 0.6-0.8% potassium and 50-75% organic humus.

Dung can be turned into a fuel. When living things rot, they produce gases. One of these gases is methane. It is also found in animal waste. The waste is put in a special tank that collects the gas. Then the gas is used as a fuel for cooking and heating. As the prices of oil and compressed gas are increasing day by day these dungs could be used to produce an energy which would be a substitute. Many countries have even started working on it. Countries like Sweden collect dung from the zoo and use it as a fuel for rickshaws.

To use the cow dung we need to expose it under the heat of the sun and keep it away from water. Later add it in the crushed charcoal. If we heat it again we can use it for cooking.  It can also be put through a fermentation process which releases lots of methane gas which is what helps to produce electricity. 

The best part is we have the ideas, we know what should be done and how, but the worst part is that we are not given a platform from where we can share these ideas and uses resources to accomplish them. We are still stuck in the cage of our government where they are responsible for taking every decision for us no matter how adverse its impact is. Our exports are affecting because of the energy crisis, so is our industrial sector in fact every sector either educational or corporate. But, do we have a right to blame the local government for not working effectively as we individuals are not ready to take our responsibilities. We all talk money language either it’s the farmer who wants the least possible cost of production or the consumer who wants to buy the cheapest because of the expenses.

Now it is time for the youth to come up and take the front row. Bring in innovative and creative ideas and apply our knowledge practically.

It is our time!

http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/10327

http://gm-volt.com/2012/03/29/hybrid-rickshaw-runs-on-human-trash-animal-poo-and-electrons/

By Anum Khalid 

Technology is not what people think it is... by : Alisha Sajjal

Imagine a time where human use to live in a stone ages where messengers took a number of days to convey a message from one place to another. However, now I barely locate any single individual who is not acquainted with the use of mobile phones. Likewise, imagine a time when our social circle was restricted to family members and close friends but now a days, our world is totally changed due to extensive use of social media. Keeping these examples in mind, we can define technology as innovative implications that add convenience and standard to our living.  Technology can have both positive and negative effects on our society. In case of third world countries, like Pakistan the core problem related to technology is that we use it as a luxury of life rather it must be implemented as necessity of life. For instance, Iphone and other technology gadgets are used as a symbol of aristocracy while only 2% of the individuals are aware about the powerful applications and innovation proposed by this gadget.

It is not only the concept of innovation in technology but its utility and focus is equally important to make it beneficial for the society. In Pakistan people are using cell phones not for productive purposes but to take pictures and it is more of a symbol of class. People try to show that they are far better than others with help of latest cell phone. But is this the criteria of better living?

Even apart from pictures people usually play games. Cell phones are not only for the games or for photography purposes but it is a gadget that could be used for research, pod-casting or for other relevant research.

Internet is one of the most significant technology that has changed our approach and aptitude towards life. However, in case of Pakistan we are not using it for a valid cause and positive outcomes. In case of Pakistani students, it is indeed one of the supreme causes of time wastage. Social networks like facebook, twitter, and other platforms are only used for recreational purpose.  Connectivity of people at single platform must have raised the research and academic environment but still this trend is not achieved in our case. Likewise, we are using internet but failed to come up with proper data ware houses that can optimize our life to considerable extent. Internet can effectively enhance our business intelligence and decision making.  The managers and executives can scan through a large database for better analysis and accurate results.

Last but not the least, the technologies like Internet, Android Application, I Phone markets and all other creative applications must be brought under the access of ordinary and poor people. Technology must not be treated as a luxury; rather it is a necessity to keep a pace with the fast moving world. Still, there are billions of people in Pakistan, who never have an access to internet in their life. It is the right time for us to think out of shell and implement Internet technology in the poor and distal areas of Pakistan.

Author : Alisha Sajjal

Arfa Karim - The Pride of Pakistan. By: Hiba Mazhar.

             (Corporate and Technology)

Arfa Karim came, performed and conquered. Her credits and achievements are too many to count. She brought together her capabilities and showed that miracles were possible anywhere, any place at any time. Bill Gates, the chairman of Microsoft, passed on positive remarks about Pakistan altogether after meeting with Arfa. She got lucky enough to ace the honor of receiving the World’s Youngest Microsoft Certified Professional when she was only 9 years old (2004). Bill Gates personally invited her to visit the Microsoft Headquarters in the USA. He was so much impressed by this girl that he immediately ordered his HR team to hire people from Pakistan. He never regretted that decision for we have so much young talent in our country. It is just that we are only hesitant to organize and identify our strengths.

                                  

Afra Karim is a shining example for the youth as well as all the elders currently living in Pakistan. She was given the Fatima Jinnah Gold Medal  which she received from our former Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz. She was also honored with the Salaam Pakistan Youth Award in 2005. Besides, Arfa won the Presidential Award for the Pride of Performance. As I mentioned earlier, the awards and appreciations are just too many to count.

Being the normal yet extra-ordinary little girl, she was a certified pilot as well as equally adept in Microsoft, Cisco and Oracle products. She could present complex technical concepts easily. She was the teacher of hundreds of people, and was particularly interested in finishing up digital divide within her own country. She loved Pakistan and wanted recognition for her country. She would go out and bring in more respect for the citizens to brag about.

People! The question is whether we can fulfill her dream or not? Does this nation owe some respect to all the efforts carried out by Arfa or not? Unfortunately, she remained at (ICU) CMH after suffering from an epileptic seizure and cardiac arrest. After consistent fighting for her life for the next 26 days, she left us thinking, tearful, and with the gift of believing in ourselves. It is time that we take a stand and make the world realize. Our worth. Our capabilities. We are capable to make a difference in this world. All alone by our own selves. With just a little effort and realization at our end. STAND UP, PAKISTAN! :)

-Author: Hiba Mazhar.