These days if someone talk of girls (guys should read women) rights or anything under the same umbrella, I look at him with a look as if he’s coming from Mars. And why not, the girls’re taking on to our lives like a quick virus or something. Honestly, half of Karachi billboards’re littered with women beauty of all ages (mostly young of course for various reasons,y’ know). I don’t watch tv or else I could say with even more confidence that female actresses have already outnumbered male counterparts largely and it’s not just their numbers, mind you, but the emphatic characters that they bear these days.
Girls are performing even better online. Oh, no no, I won’t talk about IRC channels or anything related to girls’ ability to talk incessantly, y’ know. I am rather more amused at the increasing no. of spam with proper pakistani female names. But it’s everywhere, right?
I don’t care.
The irony is heightened when you realize the spam is about legitimate good upstart businesses being sent by even more famous IT companies. Cyber Net probably blocks a lot of spam and so does World Call and other ISPs but these “female-spammers” have spread like an annoying piece of s*** everywhere. Here’s a sample:
From: Amina Haq (that’s the name which you see from list of emails in your box)
Subject : Pakistan First Online Super Store (Must Visit)
From Email: freepakstore@yahoo.com
Body: PakStore.com
For your free gift please click here
Thanks
Madiha Murtaza
This is not spam mail. Some one has added you. For removal please please send a blank mail to remove@pak-store.com
Yeah, right. First Amina Haq and then Madiha Murtaza.
January 2006
Fri 27 Jan 2006
Fri 27 Jan 2006
A lot of people ask me where to go for Domain Registration and Hosting needs. I think for a while (it really is very responsible decision for me, trust me) and tell them Not a Pakistani company, for heaven’s sake. Go for any decent company offshore and get some money from me but not a Pakistani IT, ISP, Hosting yadda yadda company. Period.
Here’s my recent email to one of my oldest Domain/Hosting firms, WebTechnos. The company is just another US-based and yadda yadda and actually parked and being run from Lahore. The irony is heightened when their team members can’t most certainly understand few words of English. I requested them to change my whois record to new one so they could reach me timely but it never worked. Unfortunately, Lahoris in general have this undying passion not to get out of their usual “lahori-punjabi” style of life even when they’re sitting in a pretty hi-tech firm like an ISP or hosting firm.
I am thinking of writing a Punjabi-style email to them regarding my woes and I can honestly assure you it’d be heard loud and clear. Here’s my recent email to them, anyway.
I believe my domain registration’s about to expire or such and thanks to WebTechnos, I didn’t get any friggin’ confirmation or alert or any intimation of any sort. Thank you very much for taking care of one tiny account of mine. It’s this service that makes us stick to you for ever and never buy any hosting whatsoever.
Now, if you could kindly honor me by providing any speedier way of sending whatever amount of money to your account from Karachi. I’d appreciate if there’s some branch of yours in Karachi where I could deposit cheque or cash etc.
I am asking about the domain charges because the first two years, it was 500Rs. and last year it was 550Rs. and since Oil prices have risen so much after that and I am pretty sure it’s in someway affecting your business as well. So, what’s the UPDATED domain renewal charges, I need to pay to your royal company.
Regards,
Ejaz Asi
So, what would it be like in Punjabi? Here’re few lines:
Payyan, tussi tey hadd hi ker deti aye, Payyan. Meri domain da satyanaas pher deta aye ji. Unoon Puchan alla hi koi nain aye, twadi cOmpany (I wish to record my voice here so you can really truly understand how “O” is pronounced like “goal” in company when a punjabi pronounces it) wich. Payyan, twadda bera hi palla howey ga, tussi inooon dobara chaloo ker dawo Manaa (emaan sey). etc. etc….
Ladies and gentlemen, I am in extremely hurry and hasty about writing this post and can only hope that one day, I would truly, madly and deeply write all what’s in my heart about the state of IT companies in Pakistan. Trust me, I may plan to write a book on that issue.
Thu 26 Jan 2006
WHERE I LIVEPhoto: HORIZON.
Here’s a quote from one of my fav. Russian writers, Leo Tolstoy:
“Happiness does not depend on outward things, but on the way we see them.”
I also believe a man’s capacity to see things what his eye doesn’t (sometimes) is built-in, unending and yet vulnerable.
