Saturday, January 29, 2005

PTA to suspend cell phone companies' licenses

From Dawn:

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority may suspend the licences of two major cell phone companies if the reports of its secret survey, which is starting on Feb 1, establishes poor quality of their service.

They said the survey would be completed by Feb 15 and action would be initiated on its recommendations. The survey was being launched on customers' complaints. The PTA had already served notices on the two companies for their poor quality of service, congestion, wrong messaging, frequent call drops and fake billing.

They said the companies had already been given enough time to remove these problems, therefore, no leniency would be shown if the survey found them persisting with shortcomings. The PTA might also impose heavy fines on them, they added.

The sources said the firms were trying to capture more market at any cost before the launch of service by two new companies this year. "In a bid to capture more clientele, these companies have been compromising on service for long," they said. "The PTA is very sensitive to its obligations and will do every thing possible to protect interest of its customers."


P.S: If its supposed to be a 'secret survey', why are they discussing it with the press? Mobilink for one has already been fined in the past, but instead of being repentant, it has proceeded to provide the worst service in its history. If they had spent the crores on improving their service, instead of on their 'Indigo' advertising campaign, they could have boasted of at least some satified customers. I wonder if a satisfied Mobilink customer actually exists..

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Blog togs


Bloggers who are found of blog buttons and stickers (who is not) must visit blogsticker.com and find over 1877 blog stickers there. What is more, anyone can make own in Blogsticker Factory or add one. I found this:

BSA to crack down against piracy

According to Daily Times, Business Software Alliance (BSA) has announced that they will be taking strict action against national and multinational companies after the 60 day truce period ends on January 29th. According to a BSA study, Pakistan's software piracy rate is 83%, which causes a loss of US$16 million to Pakistan's IT sector. What puzzles me is how Pakistani multinationals can spend billions on advertisements and sponsoring a gazillion shows, but can't purchase licensed software. However, buying licensed software is still not an option for the common user - its high time BSA realizes that unless they don't lower the cost of the licenses, no one will give up paying Rs.40 for Windows XP.

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Give me an iPod Shuffle and nobody gets hurt.

Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, launched a bunch of new Apple products at Macworld Conference and Expo. First up on my shopping list is the Flash based iPod Shuffle. Coming in two sizes - 512 MB and 1 GB and costing $99 and $149 respectively, the iPod Shuffle claims to be smaller and lighter than a pack of chewing gum. It doesn't have a screen, but with such low prices, no one will really care. One can also fill up the iPod by connecting it to the PC via the USB port.

Apple also launched the Mac mini, a $499 budget PC, consisting of a processor, hard drive and optical drive. The Mac mini is truly mini - its 6.5 inches wide and 2 inches tall! Apple also showcased iWork, iLife's new version and Final Cut Express HD - tools designed to make the Mac user's life simpler and easier.

So who wants an iPod?

Monday, January 10, 2005

E-Mail Icon Generator


Visit here to generate icons for GMail, Hotmail, MSN, Yahoo!, AOL and many more...

Friday, January 07, 2005

Mind mapping software

This a free Java-based tool which is supposed to help you organizing any idea that you may have. See the Screenshots here.

Thursday, January 06, 2005

World’s First ‘Paid to Blog’ Network


Bloggers finally have a new way to make a fast buck with their weblogs. BlogKits.com has launched the BlogKits BlogMatch Network, an opportunity for anyone who owns a blog to be matched with businesses, marketers and/or advertisers looking to partner with niche-filled, content specific, quality blogs. There is a possibility of wining an iPod as well.

Wednesday, January 05, 2005

Watchout: Project 'Jawbone'

Must-read story about audio tech startup called Aliph who's Pakistani CEO Hosain Rahman's success in California and The Adaptive Headset for mobile phones that's making waves [it reduces background noise while you talk]. The company website states its focus is on speech processing products for govermental and private organizations. Verrry interesting!

Pakistanis in Ahmedabad

[Jan 4]The Press Trust news story states that interaction between scientist across the border has been limited, and rightly so. "Pakistan participated for the first time in the 92-year-old Indian Science Congress, being held in Ahmedabad. The four-member Pakistani delegation will be presenting three papers in the congress, Dr Anwar Nasim, chairman of the Pakistan's National Commission on Biotechnology and a member of the delegation, told reporters in Ahmedabad." The Commission was created by Dr.Ata-ur-Rehman in 2001.

In September 2004, The Nature carried a more sensational lead on a similar event stating that verbal collaborations have ended "more than five decades of scientific impasse between the two nations." I think the two need to look at 'education' for any collaboration, even if its bound to be research on malaria and agriculture as per the news story.

Saturday, January 01, 2005

2005.

Happy New Year to all SPIDER readers, contributors and the people who make SPIDER happen. Here's to hoping that this year will be spam free and that good things will happen in Pakistan's IT sector. Wishful thinking, but wishing is good.


P.S: The January issue of SPIDER is on sale now. Let us know what you think about it at letters@spider.tm