Criminal Genes and the Human Genome

In the movie, Minority Report, the PreCrime Police prevent crimes and arrest people before they commit the crime. It sounds incredible and almost impossible that it would ever happen in the real world. But rethink. It is very much possible and may be put into routine use in the very near future albeit the technology to prevent crime will be entirely different from that of the movie, which relied upon the knowledge of psychics. In real world, we will be using our very own DNA as the basis for all this process.

If Time Machine Were Invented

I sat down to gather my thoughts on the question that given an opportunity whether I would like to travel back in time or ahead while watching the news on BBC World. There was a news item, which sent shivers through my spine. Six white policemen in South Africa were shown mercilessly beating a black helpless boy and at the same time unleashing their dogs on him. I could not stand the sight when I saw the dogs attacking and dragging the already bruised boy. I turned off the TV in disgust.

New Anarkali – the Love Story Continues

Love stories are as old as the human race. Every part and every culture on the planet has some epic tales about these. Here in the sub-continent, we have many tales of love and betrayal but no other tale attracts as much attention and heartache as the story of Anarkali and the Prince Salim. Almost 4 centuries ago, King Akbar the Great was on the throne of the Kingdom of India. Prince Salim was his son and hence, the Crown Prince. He fell in love with one of the chamber-maids, Anarkali.  But the King did not approve of their love. The Prince was adamant and he even rebelled and a war was fought between the father and son. Anarkali was house arrested and the Prince surrendered on the condition that the life of Anarkali would be saved. The King, according to some accounts, set free and exiled her, while some says she was killed. Nobody knows for sure the real story. And some even challenge the whole story as untrue. But never the less, it is been told for centuries now and we in Lahore even have a bazaar, probably the busiest bazaar of the city, named after her, the Anarkali Bazaar. And then it has extended to form a new bazaar, New Anarkali. But imagine if this love story takes place in the modern setting, in this age of modern technology? Here, I tried to portray a scene from this epic tale.

An Open Letter From a Thief

Last week I received a letter from, well, a thief. I am no journalist and don’t know what to make of it. He/she has asked me to convey their message to the common citizens. As I have no idea what to do, so here I am posting the letter verbatim. Hope you people can help.

Unsung Hero: Baba G

Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country. – John. F. Kennedy

“Junoon se aur ishq se milti hai azadi”, the kid was humming the OST of the movie Jinnah which was shown on PTV. His father entered home and asked him lightly whether he knew the meaning of what he was humming? Then he began telling him the details. I was sitting in the corner of the room and was lost in my own thoughts. Today is the 65^th Independence Day of Pakistan. And if one ponders over the ups and downs of these years, one can realize the price of independence. For a nation to excel, and for that matter to destruct, contribution from a large number of people is required. One person alone is not enough to bring a meaningful change, either negative or positive. But one has to do his/her own bit of work. So there are a lot of people who have contributed to the building and prosperity of our nation. Some of them are well known, through books, newspapers and television. But there are countless people who form the backbone of this country but no one knows about them. I knew one such person. Rather I had known him since my childhood. To me, and all other people in my village, he was known as Baba Jee.

Examination – A Necessary Evil

Examinations are formidable even to the best prepared, for the greatest fool may ask more than the wisest man can answer.” – Charles Caleb Colton, English sportsman and writer.

 “Just 5 minutes, Ammi”, I replied. The dial of the wall clock was showing the time to be 3.35AM, but I still wanted to double check and mobile phone was showing it to be 3.34AM. What a relief! Every minute was so important. I had not even drink the glass of milk that Ammi gave me at 12 AM with strict orders of going to bed early. This was the 3^rd time Ammi came into my room and urged me to sleep. But how could I? I had a last paper in the morning of what was my final exam. Like most students, I too have a habit of falling asleep the moment I start reading my books. But I had to study. Just one last chapter. O clock, please tick slowly. In my heart I knew that just 8 more hours and I would be free of all the tensions in the world. No more study. No more papers. No more cramming. The next thing I knew was that Ammi was holding a tray of breakfast and gently waking me up. I did not realize when I slept. And with this, it occurred to me that my mind went totally blank. I could not remember a single word. I rushed to the exam hall. With lot of praying and cramming, I was finally able to write something in the answer sheets. O God! Please help me!

Livin' La Vida Mobi

Be yourself, everyone else is taken ~ Oscar Wilde

 

As I mentioned in one of the previous posts that during the last few years, the distinction between mobile and internet, and for that matter, computer, is almost diminished. But since majority of the population of the world is just living on the edge of poverty and where there are still Pentium 1 computers being used, smartphones or tablets are far from a household name. Those of us who still do not own an iPad or a blackberry, can still reap the benefits of modern technology. For example, I own a very basic level phone with an entry level camera and support for Java MIDP and MP3. And I am sure most of you out there will have a similar phone. So how can you best utilize it with some free goodies? The following is my list of applications which are freely available from the websites given at the end, and can make your phone very useful in addition to the basic tasks of making calls and sending SMS. Moreover, these apps work offline, means that once you install these on your device, you do not need a working internet connection to be present. 

And the Award Goes to...

It gives me a great pleasure and a sense of pride that finally I received the following "AWARDS" from my friend Mishi. 

Balochistan - the Land of Cordiality

Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan by area, with a total population of about 8 millions. It has mainly 2 large population groups i.e. Balochis and Pakhtoons. Last year I got the opportunity to visit the province with my friend Ibrahim who hails from Pishin district. I had just a fortnight and since my hosts were in the Pakhtoon area of Balochistan, I can only share about that part.

Technology: Purveyor of Life or Victualler of Death?

All of the biggest technological inventions created by man - the airplane, the automobile, the computer - says little about his intelligence, but speaks volumes about his laziness. – Mark Kennedy

Humans have the natural tendency to be in control of their surroundings including other humans, animals and the environment. Moreover, as obvious from the quotation above, humans are always in search of simpler ways of doing things. From the early humans who controlled fire to the latest DNA technologies, everything has its origin in one of these fundamental axioms.