KESC explains …

As I was driving home from work today, I heard a KESC rep explain on FM107 that the reason we did not have electricity all of last night was that it drizzled, and as the drops of water touched the dust on the electric cables, 24 grid stations tripped. We have all heard some amazing statements from KESC over the years but this must take the cake! He further said that if it had rained heavily, this would not have happened.

The rain gods must have heard him because minutes later the skies opened up and the rain came pouring down. May I ask KESC to now explain why we still don’t have electricity?

P@SHA Career Expo heads for Pindi on August 2

After a spectacular extravaganza in Karachi on July 20, the P@SHA Career Expo now heads for  Rawalpindi on August 2. It will be held at the Pearl Continental Hotel in the Marquee Hall. The event is being held in partnership with Brightspyre.com. Companies can register booths on the Brightspyre website.

Registration is free for young people wishing to attend the job fair, the workshops, the counseling, the SIG session or the Startup Insiders session.

For some online coverage of the P@SHA Career Expo in Karachi, do check out the following blogs:
Netxpress Online – for loads of videos and photos
In the Line of Wire – for detailed coverage and photos
Mohtashim’s IT Tazee – review of the event

The P@SHA Career Expo in Rawalpindi will include:

• A Job Fair

• Workshops and panel discussions:

10:00 am – 10: 45 am    “Hiring Fresh Graduates – An Employer’s Perspective”
11:00 am – 11:45 am    Presentation Skills
12:00 noon – 12:45 pm    Resume Writing

• Career Counseling

CEOs of companies will be available all day to answer questions and offer counseling to young people.

• Special Interest Groups:

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm    SIG Rich Web Interfaces: “Rich Web Interfaces: AJAX, Flex or Silverlight

• Startup Insiders session (3 – 5 pm)

The Platinum Sponsor “BearingPoint” will provide counseling on Project management, Infrastructure, Finance, Telecom and HR careers and will have a lucky draw every two hours.

A panel of experienced entrepreneurs will lead a discussion, share experiences and answer questions fired to them by aspiring entrepreneurs and young startups. This is the 10th in the series of such events which have attracted a lot of enthusiasm.

There is no registration fee required for young people to attend the above events.

Are you a geek below the age of 17?

If you are a young programmer (and I mean REALLY young – not just young at heart) below the age of 17? Or if you know of any young geeks who you think are brilliant?

Well then ask them to compete in the International Software Competition being organized by the Computer Society of Pakistan.

A national School Software competition will be held to select the team that will represent Pakistan’s team in the ISSC in Chennai. The national competition will be held in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar. This competition will be held on August 03, 2008. The selected team members will go through a training program to prepare them for the main competition in Chennai.

Registrations close on July 30, 2008. For more details, visit the competition website.

Let’s have a Teabreak

It is a rare Sunday that I actually get a break so when someone tries to get me to go anywhere on such a day, I usually find an excuse to turn them down. But I couldn’t say no when Ammar Yasir and Asim Imtiaz invited me to the launch party of Teabreak – an initiative they started recently with a couple of friends.

It is extremely difficult for me to turn down a bunch of talented young people who are bubbling with excitement about something they are doing. So I said I would be at Copper Kettle at 4 pm on Sunday. And I actually made the effort. I am so glad I did.

Not only was it a pleasure to listen to Asim and Ammar talk about why they had set up Teabreak.pk and where they were intending to take it, it was just as interesting to see that 18 bloggers turned up for this activity. Shows how much respect these guys command in the blogging community.

There were the more well-known bloggers like Teeth Maestro, Ramala Akhtar and Jamash and then there were others that I had come across while surfing but didn’t really know. It was good to hang out with them and find out why they started blogging, what they blogged about, how often they blogged and what they thought of the entire blogging phenomenon.

Most of these were youngsters but I will tell you one thing – the wealth of knowledge, talent and passion that I could see in that small group, was enough to make me feel that there is much to be hopeful about. I know that the Teabreak team felt honoured that I had shown up for their launch party. Guys, I feel privileged that you asked me to be there. How else would I have met Ramla and Junaid Uppal?

Seriously, it was great to meet all the bloggers who were there and to learn what makes them tick. And of course the lovely Teabreak t-shirt was a bonus even if I don’t drink tea! Good luck guys. We are watching you with pride!