I am sorry, I don't have an iPhone

It is easy to get carried away and invest a good fortune in an iPhone, the latest and hottest gadget. (It is much expensive here in Pakistan) After all every smart kid (actually rich kid) is carrying it. So why not you? And of course you don't want to look apologetic every time a friend of you buys and shows off his iphone.

First, I would definitely recommend you to do a PMI and APC before buying a gadget like iphone.

Second, read this blog post to see why a millionaire does not want to get an iphone.

Third, if you still need it, I would suggest to read this article (Seriously, why do you still have an iPhone?) about alternatives, the better ones.

I don't have one and probably never will.

Do you have an iphone? Let me know.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

A quick way to enhance your vocabulary

I have been using Google dictionary extension for my Chrome browser for couple of weeks and much pleased. I just double click a new word while browsing/reading and immediately get its definition in a yellow bubble right there.

Try it today and enhance your vocabulary the easy way.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Positive thinking is over rated

Every one asks you to think positively, to get rid of your negative thoughts and emotions. Many articles, blog posts and books have been written on the power of positive thinking.

Right? Probably wrong. Though the above advice might somewhat help those who are deeply in negative thinking, it often causes confusion to people trying to improve themselves just with positive thinking.

The other types of thinking (including negative and emotional ones) are equally important too.

... Without negative thinking you can't be aware of any risk elements in a new venture, dangers at a new place or bad intentions of a stranger etc.

... Have you ever tried getting rid of your emotional thinking? You should not and in fact you can't.

... Without some creating thinking you cannot move ahead in your life.

So the trick is to give equal share to each type of thinking.

Dr. Edward de Bono has divided our thinking into six types (symbolized by metaphorical hats):

1. Positive thinking with all the logic. (Yellow hat)
2. Negative thinking with all the logic. (Black hat)
3. Emotions without any logic and justification. (Red hat)
4. Actual facts which can be verified independently. (White hat)
5. Creative thinking; new ideas, inventions. (Green hat)
6. Control of your thinking. Forcing yourself to do due justice to every type of thinking. (Blue hat)

An emotional decision is not bad as long as you have given due time to thinking of all other types.

A good thinker has to be good at all types of thinking.

Are you a good thinker?

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Whitewashing jang.com.pk

To its credit, jang.com.pk is the most frequently updated urdu news website (correct me if I am wrong). Unfortunately it is crowded by flashing, bright color ads which make reading experience anything but highly unpleasant.

Today I installed 'AdBlock' extension for my Google Chrome and it made jang.com.pk instantly more readable, whitewashing the most annoying ads. AdBlock is also avaiable for Firefox.

Here are screen shots of jang.com.pk before and after installing AdBlock.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Is there any education value of quotable quotes?

When I was growing up I really loved quotable quotes and always searched for good ones in books and newspapers. One day I came to know that compilations of really good quotes are also available in  book format. I was excited. I got one and eagerly started reading from page one. Past few pages, I stopped reading. I was disappointed. I was not getting the inspiration from reading high quality quotes in a book.

After some thought I realized that quotes were good for me when I read a single one once in a while and tried to internalize it by thinking long and hard about  it. This was obviously not happening when I was reading quotes in a book in alphabetical order.

Many years later when I studied Dr. Edward de Bono and learned that, what every type of training and education (as well as fights and wars) aimed for, was perception change. Now as we grow older and older it becomes harder for us to perceive things in a new way because we settle down each new thought into our established thoughts (patterns). So it becomes really hard for us to change our perception (and thus get any value) from reading a quotable quote casually and then moving to a next one.

Then there is a big question of context. Every quote makes sense in a particular context. For example Jinnah's popular quote 'work, work and work' can easily make you a heart patient without understanding it in a proper context.

In contrast to quotable quotes, thinking tools (as invented by Dr. Edward de Bono) take almost the same amount of time and effort as reading a great quote but can change your perception for your entire life. And fortunately these are just few.

My highly knowledgeable and intellectual friend Marryam Chaudhry posted her thoughts on facebook in these words:

Marryam Chaudhry has noticed that people luv to post quotes coz they sound nice.. How many of you actually read- retain- amend yourself accordingly??? I'm no angel n yes I have horns ;) but at least I try!!!

You are right Marryam. The educational value of quotable quotes is close to zero.

And, yes, facebook has turned into a giant quotable quotes book.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

The best ever computer software no one will try to sell you

Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7 from Microsoft or Mac OS X from Apple are called "operating systems" software (OS for short) in computer jargon. Very few people know that there is an operating system called "Linux" which is free and can be installed on their computers and even fewer of these knowledgeable people use it.

You may ask why bother to even worry there is such thing called Linux. The biggest reason is that you will get rid of all computer viruses, spyware and other security issues as soon as you install Linux. This will make your day to day computer use enjoyable and worry free.

With Linux your existing computer will become much faster without spending a dime because you don't need to install (and keep updating forever) those so called "security suites". (anti-virus, firewall, anti-spyware software etc)

Linux is available under many names like Redhat, Ubuntu, Suse, Debian etc. For desktop users Ubuntu is the easiest one. 10.04 is the latest Ubuntu release. I have been using this release for about a month and have helped install it on my clients, friends and family members' computers. All these users are, to say the least, quite happy and amazed.

Ubuntu 10.04 sets a new level of ease of use for installation and auto-configuration of your computer peripherals. It installed within 15 minutes and detected all devices (wireless network, bluetooth, wireless keyboard, mouse, memory cards etc.) on my laptop and home computers and got configured without asking a single thing.

You can install it on your existing Windows hard disk or in a separate partition without much fuss. You just need to follow these steps:

Installation

1. Download Ubuntu 10.04 CD in ISO format (700 MB) from http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download.
2. Create a CD from this ISO image, boot your computer from this CD and just follow instructions. (Make sure you first backup important work on your computer)

Once Ubuntu is running you can install additional software from a huge software repository by running the 'apt-get install software-package-name' in the command line. Believe me there is every thing you will ever need on Ubuntu Linux and that too absolutely free.

Welcome to free computing.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Making money with your blog

A friend of mine, with really good knowledge of real estate business in Lahore, writes a personal blog. His posts include personal experiences as well as reviews of various real estate ventures. Recently he mentioned that a large number of people were visiting his blog and said this traffic was beyond his expectations. He wanted to monetize this. He asked for ideas.

The easiest (and lazy man) solution is of course to put google ads. I, however, do not recommend this for three reasons:

1. If it works, it forces your visitors to leave your site.
2. If it does not, it clutters your blog and makes the reading experience unpleasant.
3. And if you can make $100/month or more, you are really lucky.
   

The other solution I always recommend is to sell your own product or service relevant to your blog. If you don't have one, make a simple one like a PDF booklet. Make two of these.

1. The smaller (5-10 pages) one which you offer as free download.
   
2. The bigger (5-25 pages) one which you sell for a price range of $2 to $6.

Initially simplicity and low price are essential for quick sales. You can always tune things later on.

Your PDF product should have information which helps your visitor to save time and should be formated pleasantly. I often refer to Shama Hyder Kabani's "free online marketing plan" from this link as an example of a really good "product".

This is just to begin with. There are many other and better ideas to make money online. I, for example, write a lot of technical documentation which I make available free. This has helped me get a good number of consulting assignments from all over the world without direct marketing.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Rephrase it

I struggled last couple of weeks trying to finish an assignment for a
client. It was not just getting done and frustrating me (and my client
too). Why? partly because of bit ambiguous specs sent by client and
partly because of hurriedness on my part to deliver quickly.

Yesterday I just took few minutes, re-wrote his request in my own
words and asked him to confirm. Lo and behold; it was not what he
wanted. And what ever he wanted was something really simple, a half an
hour job.

So whenever you are in doubt, rewrite your customer's request in your
own words and ask him to confirm. This advice is here for my own
reminder so that I don't waste two week again for a 30 minutes job.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan