Pakistan-US forces trade fire!

Yet another incident has taken place at the borders where two US helicopters crossed in to Pakistani territory in North Waziristan despite the strong stance taken by the Pakistan Army against further border incursions.

The latest exchange came after the helicopters crossed the border from Afghanistan. U.S. military officials however stated that the helicopters were in Afghan air space the whole time. Yet another claim surfaced from United States that the helicopter, a U.S. Army OH-58D Kiowas, was in fact providing ground cover to a small contingent of US Army troops on a border patrol with Afghan Police.

The U.S. State Department said it was awaiting the results of an investigation of the incident by Pakistan and deemed the shooting incident as troubling.

Pakistani Military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas brushed aside US’s statement as some thing that didn’t make sense at all.

Two helicopters crossed into our territory in North Waziristan. They passed over our border checkpost, so our troops fired warning shots. The helicopters returned fire and then went back across the border into Afghanistan.

President Asif Ali Zardari stated that the warning shots fired by Pakistani Armed Forces were in fact flares with the intention to let the copters know that they have crossed in to the border. He stressed that the shots did not carry any hostile intent what so ever.

The ever so increasing incidents of visible US interventions in to Pakistan is a disturbing sign. At times it even looks like the United States is inciting Pakistani Armed Forces and the tribesmen on purpose to build a case against extensive firing on their men and machines. Moreover, it is only a matter of time whereby terrorists see this as yet another golden opportunity to further damage the Pak-US relations. US copters could be attacked by the enemy from within the Pakistani borders even though they might not have crossed the border. A string of accusations and denials will follow from Washington and Islamabad and would surely dampen relations.

The United States must understand and realize the fragility of the situation. An ugly confrontation could easily be avoided if US forces would restrain themselves and let Pakistani military do its job in Pakistan.

Also read more on this news at CNN

Extended: Daylight Saving!

What did I tell you?

This government is in shambles. They don’t know what to do and how to do what needs to be done. WeCite gave you the heads up about the extended Daylight Saving last week (Aug 22)!

Oh and did I mention that they also might not shift the time back one hour after August for energy conservation reasons? That means even longer fasts!

It was back on June 1, 2008 when clocks were set forward by one hour to save electricity. This move was said to be for three months only and by that time-line, clocks were to be set back one hour on September 1. Now, the daylight saving might continue till November 1 as the government has declared that Pakistan Statdard Time will remain 6 hours ahead of GMT till October end!

An energy deficit of 4,500 megawatts is what Pakistan faces with low hydroelectric power generation. That of course is according to the government. The real figures may or may not be through the roof!

Already, there are rumors circulating throughout Lahore that load-shedding might be extended up to 16 hours to cushion the electricity and power demands. It is only a matter of time when your electricity bill double up now!

Also, if they have extended the daylight saving as we had predicted, does that means that petrol pumps WILL stay closed once a week and there will be a cap of 15-20 liters on petrol/diesel purchase from any station?!

HA!

Pakistan! Are you beginning to feel DEMOCRATIC and FREE? *chuckles*

A facelift for Facebook?

So here I was, online, exactly 10 minutes ago surfing aimlessly while dreaming about the upcoming Alison Nelson Chocolate Bar to hit Pakistan (now that is something to have drooling wet dreams about!) when my dear friend from Islamabad Metroblogs, A for [pine]Apple, pops up with a message asking me to check out a url: new.facebook.com and so I clicked on.

I thought of it to be nothing more than a page listing what’s new to come or under development projects at facebook but lookie what we have here… seems like Facebook is going for a presentational change with it’s outlook! The whole setup is now broader with even more information up and visible on your home page.

Here’s the current homepage:

and this is the new version:

Is this going to official or just a test? Check yours out too by typing in new.facebook.com

Personally, I don’t see much of a difference except for a broader outlook and a little bit more information that was available via the profile link and is not visible on the new homepage. Still looking in to it as we speak. If you have any thing to report about this new development, feel free to add in comments.

Happy surfing!

WeCite Link-fest

New Yorker cover shows Muslims, US flag burning, Osama-loving, Fist-bumping Obama! [ Huffington Post ]

iPhone 3G: great for new buyers, but upgraders beware! [ About.Electronics ]

Miley Cyrus Caught Up In Snap Scandal – Again! [ Female First ]

Fashion’s gone bulletproof for the super rich! [ The Economic Times ]

This Week’s Fab Favorite: Anne Hathaway Does Black and White Just Right! [ Fabsugar ]

Sex curse found at ancient Cyprus site [ ABC News ]

Aisam enters doubles final in US! [ Dawn ]

Salman Rushdie sets his sights on the ‘Bollywood Jordan’ [ This is London ]

Michael Caine: ‘Ledger Will Land An Oscar Nomination’! [ Female First ]

Lust in space: NASA must iron out the kinks in space sex if man is to settle on Mars! [ Telegraph ]

‘World’s oldest blogger’ dies at 108! [ ABC News ]

Blackberry Thunder: First Live Pictures! [ Slippery Brick ]

WeCite Link-Fest

Fans queue in Asia 2 days before new iPhone launch

[ Yahoo News ]

Bin Laden’s son in web terror rant

[ The Sun ]

Barrymore and Boyfriend call it quits

[ Boston Herald ]

The name game: The new celebrity baby naming rule

[ The Independent ]

Bollywood dancers break Guinness World Record

[ CBBC ]

Brothel offers customers petrol rebate

[ Yahoo! xtra ]

iPhone 3G gets reviewed

[ I4U News ]

Xbox 360 rumors flying; 60 GB in, 20 GB out and more

[ Slippery Brick ]

Angelina Jolie doesn’t endorse the Massage Hoop

[ Pop Therapy ]

Tim Flattery’s Transforming Air-Craft Carrier and more

[ Tim Flattery ]

Mobilink Genie Launched

Imagine having the freedom to conveniently manage some of the necessary home chores with the click of a finger on your mobile phones…

Mobilink’s brand new futuristic service called Mobilink Genie gives you just that, and a lot more!

Mobilink Genie is a mobile payment solution enabling Mobilink customers to use their mobile phones to buy a combination of products of their choice and pay for a mix of utility and general services. The program is in compliance with regulatory guidelines and safe for transactions; moreover, it has been hailed as a new and innovative chapter in the telecommunication sector of Pakistan.

The Mobilink Genie includes instant service on all GPRS/Java supporting hand-held devices covering payment of utility bills including electricity, gas, telephone; payment of Indigo bill & load or recharge any Jazz account.

In due course in time, options like ordering your favorite deal from McDonald’s and other eateries, booking airline tickets, confirming and paying for your flights, groceries and home shopping, paying fees of schools, universities, clubs and retail payments of restaurants and fuel will also be available on Mobilink Genie.

News courtesy of Pakistan Times

The World Ahead – A Look In To The Future!

Ever since man has started grasping the logic of Time and Space… he has been equally excited and worried about what to expect ahead. We all do in one way or the other I suppose.

When will our next salary come? When are we going to die? What will become of the world after a 100 years? The list is of course endless.

WeCite’s Fauzan and myself have taken some time to provide you a fraction of the answers to what the future holds. We might not be able to predict your death (because some things better be left to Faith and Fate alike), but we can tell you of some exciting and amazing things that are set to happen till the 23rd century!

We are in the 21st century by the way… in case you did not know!

While the chairman of Microsoft Corporation, Bill Gates is set to step down from daily duties after three decades on July 31 this year (shoot yourself right now if you did not know this!), we will start our estimations and predictions from the year 2009 and move forward 2009… 2010… 2015… 2020… 2030… 2040… and so forth.

Please note that these predictions are based on current trends and estimates. If things don’t happen the way they are listed here, you better not blame us! The list does not cover each and every event that would happen around the world. So if you are looking forward to finding out of they would ever make the sequel to Sex and The City, you’re on the wrong website! Sorry!

On a personal note, both Fauzan and I have been swept by amazement and sadness while compiling this list. There are certain events that only our children or our children’s children will witness or hear of. The likes of us would have long perished… returned from where we came from… dust to dust. The future holds many hopes and promises. It also holds warnings and disasters in the making. The decisions we take now, in our present, can affect the outcome that our next generations will either enjoy or suffer from.

So read on fellow earthlings, about what is yet to unfold…

Blackberries: even a 3-yr old can operate them!!!

From Yahoo News

Three year old Madelyn Eaves was able to get rescuers to her mother with the help of a little song and her mother’s BlackBerry.

Jessica Eaves taught the song “911 green” to her daughter in case of emergencies. When she collapsed from a condition called vasovogal syncope, Madelyn dialed 911 and hit the green call button, then was able to direct dispatchers to the house using descriptions of her surroundings. The year before, Madelyn had gotten help with another little song, “green green green.” When Jessica collapsed, Madelyn repeated the steps, which called the last person Jessica had dialed and allowed them to get help.

It’s certainly nice to know BlackBerries are so easy to use, and a very ingenious idea from a dedicated mother.

Spiderman-Iron Man-Hulk – Purely Awesome Clip!

About two months ago, BLUR studios came up with this brilliant idea of making a cgi clip featuring Spiderman, Iron Man, and the Hulk!

I don’t know if the real motive behind this was to either promote upcoming flicks of these super heroes or to promote comics per say or to give us a taste of what The Avengers movie might look like or to market the video game Marvel: Ultimate Alliance! It could be all of them combined or none!

But one thing is for certain!

This short clip kicks ass! Spiderman’s 4 minute or so on this clip is a million times cooler than his three movies combined! Iron Man looks awesome and as for Hulk, this has got to be the best appearance of the incredible green ever!

If this is how they are going to make the Avenger movie then believe you me, it would be the super-hero movie of the century!

Watch them in all their glory below:

Fire Up with Firefox 3.0!!!

It is finally here! We’ve talked about we… we’ve dreamt about it… and now we have it!

The cyber world has been tingling with excitement and anticipation ever since the people at Mozilla started spilling bits and pieces of information on what to expect in the ‘revolutionary’ installment of the sizzling Firefox 3.0 web browser.

It claims to be two to three times faster than Firefox 2.0 (which we all know was quite a speedster itself) and seven times faster the Internet Explorer! Some reports say it is suppose to load pages in or under 60 miliseconds! Whoa! It’s available in over 50 languages and boast of around about 15,000 improvements! Built on the powerful new Gecko 1.9 platform, Firefox 3.0 is a force to reckon with and as some of the people who have used it so far told me: ‘It can chew and spit IE and Opera even before they can say World Wide Web’!

And that just isn’t it! Some of the exciting features to look forward to include the ‘Awesomebar’ that will change the way you navigate bookmarks and history. It has a state of the art malware and phishing protection built in for a safe and secure online experience with its one-click site-ID information! Talk about customaization and we know with Firefox that the sky is the limit! With this new baby, the just might venture till the stars! *chuckles*

For more information about Mozilla Firefox 3 and how it delivers an easier, faster, and safer online experience, visit http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/features.

Mozilla Firefox 3 is available now for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X operating systems as a free download from http://www.getfirefox.com

See also:

Mozilla Hopes to Set Guinness World Record with Firefox 3.0

Installing Firefox 3: Your questions answered

Firefox 3 fixes what’s broke

Mozilla Site Goes Down Amid Firefox 3 Downloads

Note: Contrary to pouplar belief, the babe in the picture neither comes with the browser nor does it appear as an Easter Egg! She has been presented courtesy of http://www.dvhardware.net/ for promotional purpose only! Sorry! :p

Archiving Pakistan’s Cinema History – A helping hand of a Frenchman

Philippe Jalladeau, a French researcher of cinematography has been awe-struck after watching Shoaib Mansoor’s ‘Khuda Kay Liye’ thrice.

The researcher, on a mission to promote and archive films from across the globe, has already proved to be a very useful element for Pakistan’s cinema revival. He has helped promote “Jago Hua Savera“, a 1958 classic that won Pakistan a prize at the Moscow Film Festival.

Not only does Jalladeau plan to produce copies of this epic movie but also aims at building a proper archive for the Pakistani cinema. 

Do you know Pakistan is one of the few countries that doesn’t have a proper archive? Bangladesh has one, even Afghanistan has an archive, so why not Pakistan!

He also intends to lecture Pakistani students on cinema and make a feature film by collaborating with them.

Related Links:

Pakistan’s non-entity in film scene

6th Kara Film Festival – Jury Profile

Beware of the ‘Bilawal Mail’!

A hoax email on behalf of slain former Pakistani Premier Benazir Bhutto’s son Bilawal asking people to help him take custody of funds deposited by his late mother in a Dutch bank is currently being circulated, presumably by Internet scamsters.The email, received by numerous people in the United Arab Emirates, promises to keep details of the recipients secret.

It asks recipients to help Bilawal get access to funds allegedly put in the bank in the Netherlands by his mother so that the PPP can push its demand for a probe into Bhutto’s murder by the UN.

“All we just crave for now is for her killing to be probed by an international team under the United Nations. It is the only hope we have of getting the possible plotters of her murder properly investigated,” states the email which even provides a link to the PPP’s official website.

“Only this would help us convince our supporters that there was some element of collusion between her murderers and agents of President Musharraf who were determined to get rid of her.”

From Mush Standard Time to Zardari Standard Time

Hi All.

Make sure you update your clocks at midnight tonight and advance them by one hour to welcome Day Light Saving in Pakistan.

Oooh I remember the chaos that happened back in ’02 when Pakistan implemented DST. People against Musharraf at that time said they would not follow the change and it caused so much confusion. Two of my bosses at work were daggers-drawn because one said it must be followed and the other was against it. We had a ball coming to work at different timings every day!

Anyways… make sure you advance your clocks from Musharraf Standard Time to Zaradari Standard Time lest you arrive late or early for work on Monday! 😉

1217 – The New Directory Inquiry Service

The Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has decided to upgrade and improve the directory inquiry service to make the facility comparable to any other across the world.In its effort to provide callers updated information, PTCL recently launched the 0800-01217 toll-free number enabling customers to update their information in PTCL directory inquiry database free of cost. The Company initiated the 0800-01217 service so that correct information is available for each call made to the directory inquiry service. The directory inquiry service number has now been changed to 1217. Similarly all two-digit abbreviated dialing numbers are being changed to four digits as the systems and services are upgraded. The 14, 17 and 18 services have now all been changed to 1214, 1217 and 1218 respectively.

Read more

“I was forced to confess!” AQ Khan Breaks The Silence

Four years after the nation heard a confession from Pakistan’s top nuclear scientist, he has come out of his shell to say that the confession was forced on him!

It was not of my own free will. It was handed into my hand.

AQ Khan told this to the Guardian newspaper from his home in Islamabad. He was quick to add that he did not want to talk about this and let by-gones be by-gones.

Sorry Mr. Khan, as much as we respect you and your services to this country, I doubt you will not be given the third degree about your recent confession. Rest assured, you will talk at lengths about this ‘false’ confession that you have started a fire about. The media is not going to rest and neither will the international Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) after you casually dismissed the allegations against you for selling the technology to Libya, Iran and North Korea by saying

They (the West) were supplying to us, they were supplying to them… anyone who could pay.

Step aside Ch Iftikhar! For the limelight is soon to shift from the black-coats to the white-coats!