July 2012 – My Random Ramblings

Choosing the right Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). A Low Down

An Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) is a standby power arrangement system. UPS can be used for providing backup power to any electrical equipment, but mostly they are used as a standby power arrangement for PCs. In places where power outages are frequent and supply is not guaranteed UPS can also be used for running electrical equipment like fans, lights, TV sets etc. A UPS is also used in medical and telecommunication equipment or places in the industry where power outages can result in loss of life or can cause financial losses. A UPS comprises of battery system which stores electric charge. It also has a charging system to charge these batteries and means of converting the stored Direct Current (DC) to Alternating Current (AC). Modern UPS are intelligent devices and can manage the charging system, that is they shut off the electric power to the batteries when they are fully charged and turn off the UPS when the batteries are close to being discharged completely, thus preventing permanent damage to the batteries.

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A Mugging Experience – Some Useful Lessons

Being mugged is certainly not the best of experiences. I had mine and I survived it.Although I confess I lost my marbles during that ugly happening. I am physically fit, go to the gym regularly and know how to handle a gun, but I didn’t have one then and got mugged. World over the mugging phenomenon has been growing, and there isn’t a country that is safe. Muggers are lurkers who lie in wait of the right opportunity to strike at a target. The experienced muggers are swift, cold and ruthless, while the inexperienced ones are shaky and hence more dangerous. Since my mugging experience I have become more cautious. Here are a few tips that you might find useful when dealing with muggers.

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Feeding the crows, in Lahore

There are many ways to make a living, in Pakistan; you can open a shop, study hard to find a job, go of the country if you are skilled, invest in stocks, vie for a Government job, join the politicians :-) or just remain jobless. The choice is yours! I have come across people who try to make a living on daily basis doing what they can, but there’s one thing I had never imagined, selling food for the crows! This happens in Lahore, Pakistan that is. The landmark location of this famous city, the “canal” has countless such unemployed men selling meat to feed the crows. While this may sound strange to some as you can feed pigeons in Trafalgar Square (London) or fish in Shenzen’s Cultural Village (China) but feeding the crows is unheard of.

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Flag lowering ceremony at Wahga; Pakistan

Wahga is a small village on the Pakistan-India International border. It is also a Joint Crossing Point between the two countries. The same route is being used for conducting trade between Pakistan – India and also people having visas travel to either side of the divide through this village. It is the shortest link between Lahore (Pakistan) and India (Amritsar). A bus service used to run between the two countries which I believe has now been suspended due to strained relations (not sure though).

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The Hummingbird’s nest

A couple of weeks back I saw a strange mess of loose grass hanging with a telephone wire, right outside my bedroom window. On closer inspection, I found it to be a Hummingbird’s nest, in the making. I spent a couple of minutes observing the tiny creature busy in constructing the nest. The nest itself was made of loose grass, pieces of thread and mango bugs!! There was only one way of photographing the bird, and that was by placing the camera lens on the wire gauze (meant for fly-proofing the house). A normal camera wouldn’t do the job so out came my Android smartphone. In order to make the shots I had to align the lens in one of the wire gauze openings at a very acute angle, then enable the flash and finally I was able to photograph the bird and its nest. (There was no other way I could do it, as it would disturb the bird).

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Theme Review: ClassiPress for WordPress

WordPress is the best Content Management System (CMS) out there, its not a statement, its my conviction.WordPress offers so much flexibility that one is simply amazed. I decided to try the ClassiPress Theme for WordPress. I had since long being planning to make a free classified ads website but lacked the expertise to do all that coding etc. This review will hopefully help people who want to start a similar website with minimal effort.

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Why there is acute shortage of electricity in Pakistan

For the last few years there has been a severe shortage of electricity in Pakistan. For those living in Pakistan this is nothing new, but to the rest of world it is not easy to comprehend this. Living in the 21st century our lives have become so much dependent on electricity that it is not possible to survive without it now. There are a number of reasons why there is acute shortage of electricity in Pakistan.

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Have you tried Firefox on Android?

Firefox for Android is free to download and use. Before this I have been using Opera Mini for Android and found it to be very user friendly. Firefox lets you have tabbed browsing on your Android device. It takes a whopping 17 MB so you better have enough space on your smartphone or tablet before installing it. But what I liked most about Firefox is the ability to sync my Laptop and smartphone. So now all my tabs, bookmarks, accounts info and even history in synchronized on both devices. This way I do not have a problem when I am using Firefox at home on the lappy or during move in my car.

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On loosing a dear and near one

We humans are mortals. We are born, we live, eat, grow, work, and then die. It is but natural. We know we will die but somehow we prefer to ignore this reality. It is only after we loose a near and dear one that we realize that death is so much a reality. And that there is no escaping it. It is just a matter of time when I and you will be no more. And that people will remember us they way we remember or mention those who have passed away before our very eyes. We are mortals yet we refuse to believe that we are.

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