The Balance of Life

Everytime I wake up I have a feeling that I forgot to do something, talk to someone or be with someone.

Why is it all so difficult?

Why can't we choose one path for ourselves for ourselves and ramble on it as we please. But then I remind myself that if it had all been that easy life would not be what it is now. A road full of surprises, twists and turns everywhere.

Maybe this is why not everything in life is supposed to make sense and its probably best that we cannot always manage to balance everything as much as we want to.

Here's to another day full of surprises............

The Irony of Eid

Salam everyone out there.

First of all I want to wish everyone a very happy eid and may all the blessings of Allah be with us.

Today I was sitting by mysaelf, pondering on my own how life can be so tough and yet so easy for us at the same time.

Let's take Eid for instance. At one end there are there are the extremely well-rich endowed Muslims. They have the resources, income and ability to enjoy as much as they want but still most of them seem almost bored with the concept of Eid.

Then there are those among us who are not so well established. They can't even afford to have 3 square meals everyday. And yet they enjoy an event like Eid as much as they can.

This is not only restricted to Eid. You can find this phenomenon everywhere be it Diwali, Christmas, Hannukah or whatever.

Has lfe become so important for us that we forgot how to enjoy these precious moments? Or have we just gotten bored?

Maybe its time for us to start thinking of sharing our happiness with those who can't enjoy life like we do.

Always remember, "Life is not what it IS but rather what you MAKE out of it."

EID MUBARAK

Services of salesforce.com

Salesforce.com offers Comprehensive On-Demand Business Services in different areas. Two of these are discussed below:-

Customized Services Strategy:-

As mentioned on the website the company rightly points out that each and every single company is different from another in some way or the other. This means that each of their requirement for Enterprise Systems is also quite distinct. This is the reason why Salesforce offeres customized services for its clients. Through its vst experience it has learnt all the different combinations of services it can offer and now each service can be speciafically designed according to the needs of the customer.

Force.com Services :-

Other than the previous service they also offer an overall integration of all the different business processes from desktop tools to enterprise applications. Some of these integration services include Salesforce.com Consulting, Salesforce.com Training & Certification, and Salesforce.com Support.

Consulting:-

At each and every step of installations and implementations of systems they provide proper advisory and consulting services for data management,Implementation and Configuration etc.

Training and Certification:-

All employes are properly trained and awarded certificates for successful completion of their training programs.

Customer Support:-

Explains which package to choose from, how to integrate it with your organization and achieve maximum return on your investment.

RFID and Privacy

Today I am going to talk about a technology called RFID. It stands for Radio Frequency Identification Systems.

RFID was initially built for one sole purpose: security. However this is not the case today. In the name of security numerous new applications of RFID have cropped up that have almost nothing to do with security but rather only serve as privacy intruders.

Some of the major applications that can pose a threat to privacy include the following:-

• Tracking Apparel:-

This kind of eccentric device is used for linking the clothing a consumer purchases to his or her Id, credit card information etc.

In my opinion there is no such need for this absurd device. It encroaches on the basic right of humans i.e. privacy to a very large extent. There is no need for companies to keep track of consumer purchases and their personal information.

This application poses a very severe threat to privacy because such intimate data can be used for all kinds of actions both positive and negative.

• Tracking Tires:-

This kind of device can link the tires of car to the vehicle's license plate. This in turn will enable any observer to view where the vehicle is travelling to at any point in time.

This application again is quite absurd. There is no need to keep a check on every single person's travelling schedule. It is a completely personal choice of a human being where he or she wants to go. Tire companies have no right to violate this law.

Although the privacy issue is there but in my opinion the threat is low because sometimes such data can actually be used for security purposes also. This is especially relevant if these devices are only used for citizens which pose a threat to national security. As far as common people are concerned there is no need for anyone to pry on their privacy.

• Tracking Patient and Personnel:-

This device is used to keep track of every single patient in a hospital. Although such an application might be useful in certain situations but the problem is that the data received by these devices can be viwed by everyone. This means that if someone wants to use some very sensitive information about a particular patient for stuff like blackmailing then this technology will become a liability.

Should we Adopt it or not?

As far as the technology itself is concerned the fact remains that it is extremely useful and informative. The problem starts when we start using anything so abundantly that it turns into a liability.

In my opinion as far as proper measures are taken to ensure that the privacy of common individuals are not being violated then this technology can be used. An important thing to remember is the fact that as long as the principle of "moderation" is employed instead of "extremism" then there is no harm in using it.

The Creative World of Anne McCaffrey

Today I would like to talk about a very interesting series of books written by the amazing author Anne McCaffrey.

These three books are set in the planet "Pern", they have imaginative characters from dragons and runner beast to a completely new species called the fire-lizard.

The whole point of these dragon series is to tell the reader how an ordinary person, animal or thing can move forward and make a name for themselves without being afraid of the injustice from the world.

The first two books "Dragonsong", and "Dragonsinger" focus on a young girl named Menolly. The main purpose of these two books is to let the reader know that there are many times when you face discrimination based on gender, race, orientation, interest etc. But what is important is for the person to move beyond all that and strive to succeed and finally let the world know that you are not a loser.

The author has hidden these subtle messages among dragons, fire-lizards, music, romance and anything else. All this makes sure that the reader is interested not only to read but also to learn something without it sounding preachy at all.

I recommend everyone of you to go for this series.

Not only will you love it because it is a fantasy bu trust me when I say this you will end up learning loads about life.

In case you are wondering Dragonsong is the first, Dragonsinger second and Dragondrums the third.

American Idol's Marketing Strategy

Today I would like to share with you guys a very interesting piece of article for which I did a literature review in my marketing course.

Thorugh this article I found out that Idol is perhaps one of the best marketers of today.

Some of the major reasons why that is the case include:

• amazing publicity through television
• free talent available for record labels to exploit
• large revenue collection in terms of calls and ther voting methods
• ready made stars for the music industry without any effort

http://www.preneurmarketing.com/advertising/american-idol-marketing-strategy/

If you want to read the whole article go to the above link. Its a worth while read especially for people who are interested in marketing.

A Seminar on Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Recently our Management Information System's teacher Mr. Waseem Arain (whose blog you can visit through RSS feed) arranged a very interesting seminar on the above said topic. The lecturer was Dr. Syed Zahoor Hussain of LUMS.

Although the speaker talked about many different aspects of innovation on that occasion but the most important thing that I learned was how change can occur and its impacts on country's welfare. Some highlighting points of his lecture included:

• How to bring change in organizations
• Youngsters are the real innovators
• Technology gives a further boost to these changes
• Innovation creates new products
• A quest for technology, processes and resources always support change

In many ways the lecturer was rightly pointing out the fact that change is a gradual process which can only take place if we are fully aware of our surroundings and remember that all our actions can result in serious repurcussions.

Here's hoping to the fact that Pakistan will also change with the time and soon we will become one of the greatest nations of the world.