Wikipedia Going Dark to Protest SOPA

Wikipedia will go offline Wednesday to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), according to Co-Founder Jimmy Wales. Wales made the announcement via a series of tweets. “This is going to be wow,” reads one tweet. “I hope Wikipedia will melt phone systems in Washington on Wednesday. Tell everyone you know!”

Wales has been mulling the idea of a blackout on his user talk page. Wikipedia joins other major websites, such as Reddit, where a very active anti-SOPA community exists. Wales tweeted that the decision was made by community consensus among Wikipedia users:


According to another tweet by Wales, Wikipedia English receives approximately 25 million visitors every day. Wikipedia’s decision means those millions of visitors will be greeted not with the usual digital tome of knowledge, but with a screen explaining the company’s stance on the bill and information on how to take action against SOPA. The blackout will only effect the English language page.
“Student warning! Do your homework early,” joked Wales in another tweet. “Wikipedia protesting bad law on Wednesday!”

Late last week, the authors of both SOPA and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) announced they would be removing the DNS blocking provisions from both bills. The DNS acts as a kind of “phone book” for the Internet, and many in the tech community warned that interfering with DNS would have catastrophic consequences for the stability and security of the Internet.
However, many – including Wales – have responded with a whole-hearted “that’s not good enough.” An anti-SOPA Twitter, tweeted today that “closing a global business in reaction to single-issue national politics is foolish,” perhaps an indication that Twitter will not be following in the footsteps of Wikipedia and Reddit.
Meanwhile, Rupert Murdoch, CEO of News Corporation, went on a Twitter diatribe lambasting the Obama administration for failing to support SOPA.
Do you think Wikipedia made the right choice? Let us know in the comments below.

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Shilpa's dress causes international stir

While most Indian fashion designers would maintain that our traditional garment, the sari, is one of the best known Indian outfits on the international fashion scene, when a UK tabloid called an anarkali suit a sari recently, the readers took no time to show their umbrage online.

On Friday, Daily Mail carried an article on Bollywood actor and ex Big Brother winner, Shilpa Shetty, making her first post pregnancy appearance. While the actor wore an off white and red anarkali suit with a duppatta, the report called the garment a sari; apparently failing to recognise the Indian outfit. ‘Shilpa Shetty’s sari shows off her baby bump’, read the headline. Soon enough, people started posting comments on the tabloid website about the faux pas.

“That’s not a sari. It’s called an Anarkali,” posted ZB from India. Another comment, posted by Zak, read, “Its Not a sari it’s a freakin anarkali dress (sic).” Indian designers feel that at a time when a global fashion giant like Hermes has come up with an exclusive sari collection and designers such as Jean Paul Gaultier have done their interpretation of the sari, such ignorance is amusing.

“While sari is a garment that fascinates the west, it’s sad that not many know about it still,” says designer Ritu Kumar.

Chavi Taneja, a design student in Delhi says, “Westerners may get confused between an anarkali and a churidaar, but a sari has been worn by many global celebs.”

However, designer Anand Bhushan says, “Even we may not be able to tell an abaya from a burqa. So, we shouldn’t feel hurt. After all, Hermes did a whole sari collection. What bigger compliment do we need?"

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Fashion Tips for Buying Clothes to suit Your Shape

 

Fashion tips for women with different body shapes vary. Here are fashion tips for a few of the common body shapes which cause distress among women:

• Fashion Tips for Petite Women:

1. Women with a height of 3 feet 4 inches or shorter are classified as petite. Though you should be careful about how you dress up, but as long as you know style tips for women who are petite, there is nothing to worry about.
2. Dark colors make you look taller, but that doesn’t mean you should always choose black for yourself. One of the Pakistani style ideas which you can apply to yourself if getting your shirt dyed in two tones of the same color for example: the upper half of the shirt in bottle green and the lower half as light green. This is one of the style tips for womenwhich make them look tall.
3. You can also try wearing a short length jacket on your shirt when you are wearing jeans, this is another one of good fashion tips for petite women.
4. Avoid wearing horizontal lines or prints; they will make you look shorter and broader according to style tips for women.
5. As far as Pakistani style tips for petite women wear are concerned, try wearing shorter sleeves, v-neck shirts, choori dar pajamas (or skinny jeans) to make you look elongated.

• Fashion Tips for Tall Women:

Over the time, women who have a height of 5 ft 8 or longer, are considered as tall and these fashion tips apply mainly to women who fall under this category. Pakistani style ideas encourage you to enhance your height with the sort of style tips for women clothing which are appropriate for you. Go for long dresses, lines, long boots, long hair and fitted clothes to play up the beauty. Let your arms and legs show themselves by wearing long sleeves, choori dar pajamas and skinny jeans. Your height is not something you are meant to hide.

• Fashion Tips for Hip Heavy Triangle Women:

Pear shaped women think they face the worst. But trust me on this, if you follow the right Pakistani style tips, your body will look just as gorgeous as any model on the TV.  Pakistani women with a hip heavy triangle shape should consider themselves as lucky because Pakistani style ideas give them a wide range of options which are not available to western women. You can wear dark color trousers in heavy fabric which doesn’t cling to your body, and makes you’re his look slimmer.

Always get your trousers stitched in more than average length which is another one of Pakistani style tips for pear shaped women. For shirts also, the fashion tips for pear shaped women are much the same. The main thing is to be careful about the fabric. Apart from making sure that it doesn’t cling, also check that it doesn’t shine, so that your lower body is not unnecessarily enhanced. Never opt for stiff or thick fabric either.

• Fashion Tips for Top Heavy Women:

The trick is to use fashion tips to draw attention away from your bust and play them down with the right fabric, cut and colors. Baggy tops are never a good idea for top heavy women because they just make you look bigger. Wearing V-neck is one of the successful fashion tips for top heavy women, and wearing necklace which rests on your neck and not your cleavage is another way to draw attention away from your bust. Also, you should avoid wearing high necks, sleeveless and loud prints. Go for fashion tips and cuts which skim along your body without enhancing your upper half.

• Fashion Tips for Rectangular Shaped Women:

Pakistani style tips for rectangular shapes give a wider variety to boyish shaped women. You can always go for high necks or turtle necks to make your upper half look fuller. Fabric that clings to your body is exactly right for rectangular women. Pakistani style ideas also encourage pleats, frills and short sleeves to give you a more feminine look. Flairs, flowy fabrics, Maxi cuts are the right style tips for women

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Medical experts say Aarifa Karim's case not 'hopeless'

 
FAISALABAD: Professor Dr Azhar Hussain, a neurosurgeon at the King Edwards Medical University, Lahore after examining Aarifa Karim Randhawa at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Lahore has opined that “this was not a hopeless case.”

This was revealed by Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Amjad Karim Randhawa, father of Aarifa, on Tuesday night. Randhawa quoted Dr Hussain as saying “we believe that we can be successful in activating her cerebral activity.”

A joint team of medical experts of CMH Lahore had already prepared a comprehensive report pertaining to the health status of child prodigy, Aarifa Karim Randhawa who is under care at an intensive care unit of CMH since December 22, 2011.

Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani too has sent his representative, Dr Muhammad Iftikhar, who has joined the medical experts at the CMH Lahore to assure best possible medical care is provided for Randhawa. Dr Iftikhar has assured on behalf of the federal government that it would provide medical assistance for the survival of Aarifa Karim anywhere in the word as per advice and suggestions of the resident medical team.

Lt Col Randhawa said that samples from Aarifa, including scans of her brain have been mailed to renowned medical experts in Australia and other countries.

“I have been constantly receiving a flood of calls from abroad as well as within Pakistan inquiring after the health of Aarifa”, Lt Col Randhawa said.

“A number of medical experts of all the leading developed countries are also in touch with me as well as the doctors of CMH and are providing vital assistance for her survival”.

Randhawa said that while doctors had given up hope at one point, there was renewed belief that Aarifa could be saved. “Now we believe that a miracle will take place for the survival of Aarifa Karim”.

Aarifa Karim Randhawa was rushed to the CMH Lahore after she suffered a cardiac arrest on December 22, 2011.

She is the youngest ever Microsoft certified professional in the world

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Internet advocacy: Blogs in Pakistan – no more a silent revolution

 

PTI chief Imran Khan, who made a surprise appearance at the Pakistan Blog awards held in Karachi, said bloggers are part of a revolution. PHOTO: SIDRAH MOIZ KHAN

 

KARACHI:  To the audience’s delight, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan made a surprise entrance at the second Pakistan Blog Awards that kicked off Friday evening at the Regent Plaza hotel.

Acknowledging bloggers in Pakistan, Imran said that a silent revolution is building up in Pakistan and that the bloggers are a vital part of the revolution.
“Political class is in a state of shock due to this revolution,” the PTI chief said. Stand-up comedian Sami Shah had his reservations about Imran’s presence, saying, “It turned political all of a sudden”. However, Shah said that the event was a positive step.
The awards were attended by prominent, as well as the not-so-prominent faces of the Pakistani blogosphere and cyberspace. The popular opinion remained that the blogosphere has shown an exponential growth.
“This year around, it is great,” blogger Sana Saleem said. “You can gauge the importance of media from the fact that almost every news organisation’s website has a blog now,” she added.
Applause roared across the hall, which housed around 300 people, as Rabia Gharib, the host for the event started to announce the winners.
“Each nomination represents a different hue of Pakistan,” Gharib said.
“The environment is electric,” remarked CEO P@sha Jehan Ara. “Blogs are definitely going to go a long way.”
Jehan Ara, who began blogging a few years back, said that there were about 25 blog nominations in every category.
However, prominent talk-show host Faisal Qureshi said, “Pakistani blogs have quantity, but don’t have quality. We are a nation of complainers, not advocacy. We should be more responsible about our content,” he added.
“Internet usage is converging in Pakistan, which is helping new and social media,” said Badar Khushnood, the Google Pakistan’s country consultant. “There is always a certain level of noise and hype, but in my belief, blogs have done a lot of good to citizen journalism.”

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Pakistan Bloggers Awards 2011

Karachi: Bloggers from all over Pakistan attended the Pakistan Bloggers Awards 2011. The ceremony took place in a local hotel in Karachi, in which the Chairman of PTI Imran Khan made a dramatic appearance.

While speaking to the audience Imran Khan said that Karachi will witness the biggest change on 25th December 2011. He said that a tsunami of change is coming in Pakistan, due to which father is in one political party, whereas their family members are joining PTI.

On the blogs front, the best social activist award was given to mybitforchange.org, a blog by Dr. Aisha Aijaz. The best blog by a journalist was awarded to Beena Sarwar, whereas best political coverage award was given to Ali K. Chisti. TV anchor Faisal Qureshi, social activist Abid Beli, President PASHA Jehan Ara, Google Pakistan Country Manager Badar Khushnood and several others from the social arena and media industry attended the event.

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