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Posts tagged with: Blogger

Prof Adil Najam to receive Sitara-e-Imtiaz

Adil NajamIt is very refreshing to hear that Professor Adil Najam, an environmentalist and a fellow blogger of Pakistaniat fame is to be the recipient of Sitara-e-Imtiaz, Pakistans’ highest civilian award, which will be awarded to him by the President of Pakistan in Islamabad on 23rd March 2010.

This news came to me on the morning of 14th of August in an email from Adil Bhai, as I was heading to Sorh Baluchistan for a 3-day offroading adventure with OffRoadPakistan. Adil bhai’s email was one of the last few emails that snuck into my blackberry moments after which we lost all connections with the digital [real] world and disappeared into the blackhole of wilderness literally disconnected from the enitre world for a peaceful three days, having read his email it did leave me in a frustrated mess of not having time to congratulate Adil Bhai via email or even with a congratulatory blog post announcing this amazing news. It is now after three days that I feel that the first post I must write should be about this great inspirational blogger whom I have had the honor to have known for the past three years.
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National Bloggers Conference Update

Today marked a historic event in the Pakistani Blogosphere, where the Sindh Ministry of IT sponsored a full fledged conference on blogging. The event was hosted at a local hotel in Karachi and was attended by a large audience and had some excellent presentations by a few well known bloggers in Pakistan. The Chief Guest was Federal Minister Dr. Farooq Sattar and was graced by Ardershir Cowasjee a prominent columnist whilst Mr. Raza Haroon, Sindh Minister of IT played host.

The event was extensively Live Blogged and the updates can be seen here & here

The highlight of the evening was the recognition of Umema Adil who completed her MCP [Microsoft Certified Professional] certification at the tender age of 11, she was presented with a laptop from the Minister and a heavy wrapped gift [?] from Cisco. The event was moderated by Rabia Garib and Barrister Ali Chishti and it kicked off with a short introduction and welcome address by the Sindh Minsiter of IT, followed by a number of presentation by fellow bloggers like Jehan Ara, Ammar Yasir, Farhan Chawla, Raja Islam, Ramla Akhtar, Ammar [Urdu Blogger] and myself.
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Pakistani Bloggers Discussion Forum Launched

Approximately two years back in 2006 we had initially launched a discussion forum to help bloggers in Pakistan, initially it was well recieved and were able to manage for a few months but it disappeared into oblivion due to neglect and lack of interest. It was recently after the series of blogger meetups that we had in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad did many of us feel the need to revive a discussion forum where fellow Pakistani bloggers can collectively help each other to compete with the world at large and maybe place the Pakistani blogging community on the global blogosphere.

This early morning of 2009 [Happy New Year to everyone] I have finalized the preparations of the discussion form being hosted at http://bloggers.pk/forum. This flavor of the discussion board software has been deliberaly selected for its simplicty so that it is easy for everyone to be involved in any on going discussion

We hope that the community of Pakistani bloggers can now join hands together help & assist the new breed of upcoming, who might be gingerly stepping onto this platform for the very first time. While the forum will also provide a place for the advanced users to also share their experiences with everyone around.

http://bloggers.pk/forum


2008: Blaaging to Blogging

My article published in yesterday’s The Friday Times [26th December 2008] where i shared the evolution of Blogging in 2008

There was once a time when most people in Pakistan had no clue as to what the word ‘Blogging’ actually meant, this ‘un-heard off’ word was often greeted with a confused and stunned silence, quite frequently followed with an innocent desi‘ish utterance Blaaging?. An avid blogger like me, who has been dotting the blogosphere since 2004 would instantly get those dreaded stomach binges to sum up the courage and go out on the usual two minute revolutionary spiel promoting the art and science of blogging, it was also an effort to educate the educated. In those days, back then, the two minute sales pitch would often fade into a distant whisper, leaving both parties scampering for other talking points as this geek fad discussion would not last an entire conversation.

Then came the martial law of 2007, most, if not all, Pakistanis were up in arms condemning this heinous political change, including the relatively unknown community of bloggers who too joined the outcry on the digital landscape and penned their protest, little did they know then, that this political tragedy may very well have served them with an unexpected christening right here in the ‘Islamic Republic’ of Pakistan. Whilst the Lawyers and Journalists were taking a battering on the streets, the media could not report and the press could not print, it was these previously unrecognized lone rangers of the blogosphere who stepped up to the plate and offered an unhindered and uncensored news from ‘the streets’. The media blackout had in fact catapulted the community of citizen journalists to become the ‘media’ for Pakistanis hunting for the real uncensored news about the political circus taking place within Pakistan.
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Teeth Maestro nominated for Best South Asian Blog – Brass Crescent Awards

No I have not won the award yet, but have been nominated as one of the Top Five South Asian Blogs for 2008. To win the 5th Brass Crescent Award of 2008, I need your vote

What is Brass Crescent Awards

The Brass Crescent Awards, a joint project of altmuslim and City of Brass, is an annual awards ceremony that honors the best writers and thinkers of the emerging Muslim blogosphere (aka the Islamsphere). Nominations are taken from blog readers, who then vote for the winners.

If you believe this blog, Teeth Maestro has done well in the past year then please hop over to the Brass Crescent website and vote for Teeth Maestro for the Best South Asia blog. Voting is open till 19th December 2008, Please also help spread the word


Karachi Bloggers Meetup: Dec 6th

Well after the success of the Lahore Bloggers Meetup, Google Pakistan and CIO Pakistan have quickly cobbled together an event in Karachi.

The location is yet to be announced as the team is just finalizing the last minute preparations but do register yourself quickly as the seat will most definitely be limited. Should be a fun event, and with the growing buzz around the new media, I think this is a must attend event for anyone even closely associated with the new media

Considering the deteriorating situation in Karachi, it does stand a little concerned, but lets see how the situation slowly unfolds over this upcoming week

Register here or visit it the Facebook event page its a FREE event

Twitter Hashtag to follow #KBM08



Finally we are breathing

Guest Blog by Farrah K Raja

When I came across” Teeth Maestro” I thought well how healthy my teeth are? The answer is always the same the one which Cinderella’s step mom used to get from the mirror.

I do not believe in cosmetic surgery or going under knife so I do not spend much time in front of the mirror but I do spend a lot on my computer.

In today’s world where now Obama will be addressing the Nation through internet, so that message is not limited to USA alone but to the whole world. The impact of internet cannot be ignored and I am so glad Teeth Maestro is one blog from Pakistan which very responsibly is providing an alternative for people to express and connect as compared to stereo type Print and Television Journalism.

I personally believe past ten years were extremely important in the history of the world and in the history of Pakistan.

We were led by a true statesman, Mr.Musharaff, the only thing he was lacking was he did not come through voting process. By God people of Pakistan have proved who ever does not come through this process is never going to rule us even if he delivers moon and the stars.

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P@SHA ICT 2008 Awards

Last night P@SHA held its annual ICT Awards 2008 Ceremony in Karachi recognizing Pakistan top leading IT companies for their excellence in promoting the ICT Sector in Pakistan.  The event was held at the Karachi Marriott and was attended by a large crowd quite a few of which had flown in specially from around the country to attend this ceremony.  The impressive ceremony was conducted by the Pakistan IT sectors super personality Jehan Ara who in her typical style kept the ceremony light hearted and entertaining in stride.

The event kicked off with the Quranic recitation followed by a short address by the President of P@SHA, Jehan Ara and also by the Chairman P@SHA Imran Zia.   Jehan Ara in her speech also launched the P@SHA Earthquake relief collection drive from Lahore and Karachi.  Dr. Qasim Sheikh of the National ICT R&D fund who highlighted opportunities for innovators to tap into some funds available to many qualifying projects

The award ceremony was followed by a lavish dinner where many executives of the IT sector were seen to be networking amongst their colleagues and the evening wrapped up with a musical evening as well

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FIA ‘might’ have instructions to get Anti-Zardari campaigners

Ahmed Quraishi a pro-Musharraf campaigner has recently published a report where he claims that the FIA might have been instructed to get hold of people making fun of our President Mr. Asif Ali Zardari

Ahmed Qureshi.com President Asif Ali Zardari has given instructions to FIA to hunt down Pakistanis writing jokes about him. The FIA has already begun its witch-hunt searching the Internet for the ‘criminals’. Prime Minister Gilani wants no newspaper to write anything about him without checking first with his press secretary. A ‘dictator’ like Musharraf never did any of this. This is the fake democratic leadership of our country where the President is busy with the jokes on him when the country is facing hostile action from Zardari’s own allies in Washington

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GlobalVoices Advocacy Summit ’08

Global Voices Citizen Media Summit 2008 in BudapestI share with you the Global Voices Advocacy Summit help today on 26th June 2008 at Budapest, Hungary. I apologize for posting this live blog late after the event, it was more because I arrived in Budapest at noon after a 13-hour journey, and screeched into the meeting room just before lunch.

The advocacy session was amazing, with some very active discussion on the PsiPhon and TOR as a tool to bypass the censorship. Later it was followed up with a talk about creating a financial fund to help support cyber dissidents who may stand to be exposed, providing them with aid as well as good legal support. The Advocacy session was a closed session and care was taken not to publish any names of the ‘at risk’ participants, that is the reason why this Live blog rendition does not identify any specific blogger
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GlobalVoices Summit ’08 Budapest, Hungary

Global Voices Citizen Media Summit 2008 in BudapestI am scheduled to depart for Budapest, Hungary in a few hours to attend the Global Voices Summit 08 and also be a part of the Advocacy session a day before. In the next few days, I hope to blog extensively about the Global Voices Summit and then later maybe share my travel experience during the 15-20 days I am out of Karachi.

At the Summit I am scheduled to speak at Session 1: Towards a Global Anti-Censorship Network and then later I shall be moderating Session 3: Living in Censorship. I am sure this will all be a very interesting meet-up, since some top activists and bloggers will hopefully meet and share their thoughts.

One thing is for sure that I will be twittering through out the trip – follow me on twitter.com/drawab


Citizen Journalists cover the Long March

Pakistan Long March Live CoverageI mentioned a few posts earlier that an initiative has been launched to help cover the Long March procession through its journey from Karachi to Islamabad.

The first day I personally reported on the details of the journey from Karachi to Hyderabad and then Sukkur, it was later followed up by frequent SMS and Phone call contacts with participants of the Long March in the onward segment of Sukkur to Multan and then today to Lahore.

Today’s coverage was extensively reported by ALE-Xpressed who braved the crowds to welcome the Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on his arrival at Lahore Airport from Multan. Watch one of his videos here while the rest can be viewed at the Live blog at PkLongMarch.blogspot.com (short URL http://help.pk)


Rally at Lahore Airport Exit from ALE-Xpressed for Live Coverage of Long March

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