Mr. A’s Blog - Ahmad Abdur Rehman

WorldCall has launched its EVDO service currently available to karachi, Pakistan customers only.

EVDO is a wireless broadband service. World call provides a small USB modem.

Waiting when this service become available to other cities.

Tariff is as under
eVDO Packages (Only for Karachi)

They are charging 4500 for the device and package charges are:

256k : 1200 Rs.
512k : 1800 Rs.
1024k : 2500 Rs.

WorldCall EVDO Official Webpage

@ World call eVDO Device Costs Rs. 4500.
@ 45 Days Money Back Guarantee (Conditions Apply)

Also It,ll be launched to Lahore and Islamabad soon!

WorldCall will launch EVDO in Lahore before the end of current year while service in Islamabad will be launched early next year.

Green & White recently talked to one of their general managers and he said that the company is planning to launch EVDO in Lahore in December while the service is expected to arrive in Islamabad in the first quarter of 2009. Technical issues and quality of the service is also being improved by the company.

Speaking of layoffs, he said that the company has currently no plans of downsizing though they have done some in the past which he said was “excess” workforce. Since the company’s takeover by Omantel, it is making a significant progress.

The company is also planning to cut down the tarrifs of EVDO in ‘very near future’ and is expanding its Internet, Digital TV and telephony operations in other areas of Pakistan including Azad Kashmir.

Really waiting for its arrival in my city

Also check interesting Discussion at Telecom Grid Pakistan

As you know Google.com is the most popular search engine in the world.
Here are some tips to helps you find paid or free for students eBooks with Google:

Find Apache’s (default) Index page

Try this query:

+(”index of”) +(”/ebooks”|”/book”) +(chm|pdf|zip|rar) +apache

Find a particular eBook file

Try this query:

allinurl: +(rar|chm|zip|pdf|tgz) BookTitle

more google search operators at
http://www.googleguide.com/advanced_operators.html

It worked for me so I shared

Cheers

Microsoft announced the availability of a critical security patch yesterday affecting a variety of Windows operating systems.

Microsoft Interestingly, the Windows 7 pre-beta build, which will be available to developers next Tuesday, also contains the bug. Microsoft stated “Customers running Windows 7 Pre-Beta are encouraged to download and apply the update to their systems. On Windows 7 Pre-Beta systems, the vulnerable code path is only accessible to authenticated users. This vulnerability is not liable to be triggered if the attacker is not authenticated, and therefore would be rated Important.”

In a support article Microsoft details some Windows 7 Pre-Beta file information notes. The build string on the notes is 6.1.6801.4106, the same build string that has been screenshotted recently.

It is believed(Screen Shot) that the 6801 build is a milestone 3 (M3) build released to select customers and partners over the last few months.

Microsoft will be releasing the build to attendees at their professional developers conference next Tuesday.

In the last few years a number of news articles appeared that warned of the fact that hackers (or crackers if you will) make use of the google search engine to gain access to files they shouldn’t be allowed to see or have access to. This knowledge is nothing new to some people but personally I have always wondered how exactly a thing like this works. VNUnet’s James Middleton wrote an article in 2001 talking about hackers using a special search string on google to find sensitive banking data:

“One such posting on a security newsgroup claimed that searching using the string ‘Index of / +banques +filetype:xls’ eventually turned up sensitive Excel spreadsheets from French banks. The same technique could also be used to find password files”

Another article that appeared on wired.com told us how Adrian Lamo, a hacker who made the news often the last couple of years, explained that google could be used to gain access to websites of big corporations.

“For example, typing the phrase “Select a database to view” — a common phrase in the FileMaker Pro database interface — into Google recently yielded about 200 links, almost all of which led to FileMaker databases accessible online.”

These articles kept on coming up in the online news. U.S. Military and Government websites were vulnerable because admin scripts could be found using google, medical files, personal records, everything suddenly seemed just one google search away. But these articles seemed to show up once every half year and always talked about it as if it was something new. Another thing was, the articles never explained how one would actually go about doing this. Almost never an example of a search string was given. The last time I read one of these articles I decided it was time to find out for myself, whether google actually could do all they say it can. The following is a report of my findings and a description of some techniques and search strings one could use.

Theory

The theory behind this is actually quite simple. Either you think of certain data you would like to acquire and try and imagine in what files this kind of data could be stored and you search for these files directly. (Search for *.xls files for example) Or you take the more interesting approach and you try to think of a certain software that allows you to perform certain tasks or to access certain things and you search for critical files of this software. An example could be a content management system. You read up on this particular content management system, check out of what files it exists and search for those. A great example is that of the databases mentioned above, where you know the string “view database” is used on pages that shouldn’t be accessible to you and you then search for pages containing that string, or you check the software and notice that the option to view a database is linked on a webpage within this software called “viewdbase.htm” and you search for “viewdbase.htm”

The most important thing is to have a clear goal, to know what it is you want to find. Then search for these specific files or trademarks that these files have.

Google Search Options

Specific file types: *.xls, *.doc, *.pdf *.ps *.ppt *.rtf

Google allows you to search for specific file types, so instead of getting html-files as a result (websites) you get Microsoft excel files for example. The search string you would use would be this:

Filetype:xls (for excel files) or filetype:doc for word files.

But maybe more interesting would be searching for *.db files and *.mdb files. Google by the way doesn’t tell you you can search for *.db and *mdb files. I wonder what other file types one can search for. Things that come to mind are *.cfg files or *.pwd files, *.dat files, stuff like that. Try and think of something that might get you some interesting results.

Inurl

Another useful search option is the inurl: option which allows one to search for a certain word one would want to be in the url. This gives you the opportunity to search for specific directories/folders, especially in combination with the “index of” option, about which I will talk later on.

An example would be inurl:admin which would give you results of website urls that have the word “admin” in the url.

Index of

The index of option is another option that isn’t especially thought of by the creators of google, but comes in very handy. If you use the “index of” string you will find directory listings of specific folders on servers. An example could be:

‘index of” admin or index.of.admin

which would get you many directory listings of admin folders. (don’t forget to use the quotes in this case since you are looking for the entire “index of” string, not just for “index” and “of”)
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Assets details are mostly of 2007

Short-listing Pakistan’s most influential business magnates or Groups has
never been an easy task because there are the people who have been very
powerful in nearly every regime that has held this country’s reins since the
last 60 years and then we have had those seasonal species that manoeuvred
their voice to be heard better than most within the power corridors, but
later vanished into the oblivion for one reason or the other. We have
selected only those tycoons who have made their presence felt for a better
part of country’s history, have earned consistently, have been setting up
units at regular intervals or have been legends in stocks, currency or real
estate business.

The list excludes many names that have previously qualified and all of Pakistan’s most prominent feudal land lords who would definitely make it to the top 10, expect the few land owners which have declared their assets and work force and registered with the CBR Islamabad. In order to promote the new and “unknown” Pakistani magnates we have excluded in previous entities.

Unfortunately, our extensive research does not currently include the names of a few stars that shone brightly amidst the galaxy of the influential creed of yesteryear like
C.M.Latif of BECO- the Steel Man of Pakistan- who did make a lot of name
once, but then got gifted with contentment somehow, although the late
business wizard got very badly hit by Bhutto’s nationalization of 1970 which
had inflicted an astounding thud to everybody in business then. Had it not
been the case, many of our tycoons may well have managed to gain the kind of
status greeting the likes of Birlas and Tatas in India today, if not the one
saluting Bill Gates or Warren Buffet. Among these gifted individuals, you will find
politicians-turned-businessmen, businessmen-turned-politicians or even the
businessmen-cum-politicians. With malice towards none and with no intention
to decorate somebody, We thus takes the pride of announcing these names. We hope this document will go a long way in serving as the most authentic endeavour of its kind for a very long time to come. It has been prepared very carefully in consultation with leading real estate barons, stock moghuls, business leaders of virtue and senior bureaucrats at the Central Board of Revenue.

Mian Muhammad Mansha Yaha, Pakistan

Ranking:1 Worth: £1.25b ($2.5billion)Industry: Businessman
Mansha has around 40 companies on board. Mansha, who owns the Muslim Commercial Bank is also setting up a $ 17m paper mill. He is one of the richest Pakistanis around. Nishat Group was country’s 15th richest family in 1970, 6th in 1990 and Number 1 in 1997. Mansha is on the board of nearly 50 companies. He is deemed to have made investments in many bourses, currency and metal exchanges both within and outside Pakistan. He could have bought the United Bank too, but then who doesn’t have adversaries. Nishat Group comprises of textiles, cement, leasing, insurance and management companies. If Mansha was bitten by Bhutto’s nationalization stint of 1970, his friends think he was compensated by Nawaz Sharif’s denationalization programme to a very good effect. There is no stopping Mansha and he is still on the move.
Nishat group assets are $4.4Billion. He is sometimes even regarded as the richest Pakistani around by his friends claiming he does not “show it off”.

Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan

Ranking:2 Worth: £900m ($1.8billion) Industry: Politics

Our Current President as well
Asif Zardari dubbed “Mr 10%” an unknown happy-go-lucky son of a small-time businessman who struck gold by marrying one of the worlds most glamorous women Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benzair Bhutto. Taking advantage of his wife’s authority he is known to have taken kickbacks from many deals inside and outside of Pakistan. The most famous was a $4 billion deal to buy 32 Mirage jets from the French company Dassault. Documents, which include letters from Dassault executives, indicate an agreement was reached to pay a 5% “remuneration” - about $200m - to Marleton Business, a BVI company controlled by Zardari. Besides these many more kickback deals were taken with companies such as ARY Gold, Société Général de Surveillance (SGS), Cotecna, and ZPC Ursus, a Polish tractor company.
Zardari assets holding amount into hundreds of millions of dollars easily, Having 8 prime properties in the UK, of which once is the famous Rockwood Estate 365 acres in Surrey, worth £4.35m has now been sold and money sent back to the Govt. of Pakistan.
Also 14 multi-million dollar mansions in the USA, including owning Holiday Inn hotel Houston, Texas Owned by “Mr 10%” and Iqbal Memon and Sadar-ud-Din Hashwani.
They (Zardari and B.Bhutto) also have huge business ventures in the Middle East running into hundreds of millions if not billion mark. Mr Zardari also has huge stakes in sugar mills all over Pakistan,which include:
Sakrand Sugar Mills, Nawabshah, Ansari Sugar Mills, Hyderabad, Mirza Sugar Mills, Badin, Pangrio Sugar Mills, Thatta and Bachani Sugar Mills, Sanghar.

Sir Anwar Pervaiz & Sheikh Rizwan, (Chinioti)

Ranking:3 Worth: £750m ($1.5billion) Industry: Businessman
Chairman & Ceo of Bestway Group. The Bestway Group started in 1976 with its first Bestway cash and carry warehouse opened in London. Today the have in total around 50 Cash and Carry’s. Including their recent takeover of rival group Batleys for around £100m. Bestway Group ventured into Pakistan’s huge the cement business in 1995 and set up cement manufacturing plant in Pakistan at a cost of $120 million.
Taking Advantage of Pakistan growing economy they also acquired a 25.5% stake in United Bank Limited in 2002. Today, the Bestway Group has interests in cash & carry wholesale, property investments, retail outlets, milling of rice, lentils and pulses, cement production and more recently into banking. The group’s total sales amounted to in excess of £ 2 billion. The group provides direct employment to thousands in the UK and Pakistan. The have many interests in Pakistan too. Sir Anwar Pervaiz and his his partners sheer hard work has bought them to outstanding international levels, which definitely makes him an ideal role model for many young Pakistanis today. He still on the move!

Nawaz Sharif & Shahbaz Sharif family, Saudi Arabia/Pakistan

Ranking:4 Worth: £700m ($1.4billion) Industry: Politics/Businessman
Mr Sharif Businessman turned politician the former Prime Minister of Pakistan. He was ousted in a military coup in 1999 and was forced to forfeit $9million dollars and some of his assets including his $5m Mansion is Raiwind near Lahore. Before becoming PM he was a major share holder along with his brother and cousins of Ittefaq Group, having assets well in excess of £50m in the 90’s. However he got richer when he took commissions from foreign companies for construction in Pakistan. He build the first motorway and many new roads and took heavy kickbacks. He then also stole $100m from the Iqra funds, he started a new scheme “Ghar Apna” in which he again looted around $40m, the “Mulk swaaro” scheme involving public & govt. money collections to help pay pf Pakistan’s debts also was pocketed. Today he lives in exile in Saudi Arabia where it is known he has a new huge business empire in various sectors.
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IMEI is the unique number identification of a cell / mobile phone. All mobile phones have a unique number - therefore you would not find two with the same number.

To check your IMEI number, key in “*#06#” (star hash zero six hash) on your Nokia mobile phone’s keypad just as you would when you dial a phone number to make a call.

More detailed info. This only applies for phones after year 2004.
Format of IMEI is just like show below:
AA-BBBBBB-CCCCCC-D
AA-BBBBBB = Type Allocation Code (TAC)
CCCCCC = Serial sequence
D = Luhn check digit. (or zero if no checks)

From AA: you can know the Reporting Board - example 35 is BABT (British Approval Board for Telecommunications).

Use this to help you decide on a purchase! This is repost of an early member’s with a few newer editions:

To find out where your nokia phone was made look at digits number 7and 8 (YY) of your IMEI.

XXXXXX/YY/ZZZZZZ/A

XXXXXX = Type Appoval Code

ZZZZZZ = serial number

A = check digit

10 = Finland also 01 = Finland
20 = Germany
30 = Korea
40 = China
50 = Brazil, USA, Finland
60 = HK, China, Mexico
70 = Finland
80 = Hungary
91 = Finland

There may be more please list by commenting and not grantee about accuracy.

You can always look at the sticker under your phones battery. Its not always correct

sometimes it is MADE BY NOKIA

Good Luck!

-Ahmad

A real closer Look at Pakistani top Politicians

Prime minister Sir Yusuf Raza Gilani with Information Secretary Sherry Rehman

You can see they even cant stop in Cameras
Information Secretary Sherry Rehman
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THIS (Pakistan) nation attained the age of 60 years on August 14. We remembered our founder and maker, Mohammad Ali Jinnah; we remembered all the intelligent men who have ruled over us; we, who have lived long enough, also remembered that at a relatively young age we managed to lose half the country (143.998 square kilometers of territory to be precise).

Most of all, we all remembered that our governments had all failed to adhere to the first edict of our founder-maker : “…the first duty of a government is to maintain law and order….”.

Eleven years ago, on June 16 1996, former air chief Air Marshal Asghar Khan wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Sajjad Ali Shah, regarding a matter of great national importance – the 1990 countrywide elections and the use of public money to ‘buy’ standing candidates. He requested that the matter be adjudged and action be taken against those found guilty. The good judge took cognizance of the request, converted it into a petition (19 of 1996), and fixed it for hearing on November 3. The respondents were Mirza Mohammad Aslam Beg, former Chief of Army Staff, retired Lt General Asad Durrani, ex-Director-General of Inter Services Intelligence Directorate, and Mr Younis Habib, ex-chief of ex-Mehran Bank Ltd, then confined in Central Jail, Karachi.

CJP Sajjad Ali Shah was followed by CJPs Ajmal Mian, Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui, Irshad Hasan Khan, Bashir Jehangiri, Shaikh Riaz Ahmed, Nazim Hussain Siddiqui and now Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. But today, eleven long years later, Human Rights Petition 19/96 remains shelved. Each successive Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has found it prudent to leave the petition undecided.

Filed in court is a ‘reply on behalf of respondent No.1,’ Mirza Mohammad Aslam Beg. It is far too long to be reproduced in toto though it makes most interesting reading, so we must confine ourselves to highly pertinent excerpts illustrative of the military and the ruling civilian mindset :

“It is submitted with great respect that more serious damage has been caused to the reputation and the goodwill of the Armed Forces by Air Marshal (retd) Asghar Khan in bringing this petition before this Honourable Court and raising an issue before the apex Court which of course would receive great publicity and would cause greater damage by scandalisation in the media. It also reflects on the poor control of the armed forces Supreme Command for not punishing delinquent people causing damage to its reputation. Raising of such an issue clearly suggests that the Armed Forces are not capable of looking after their own reputation . . . . It is submitted with great respect that the raising of this issue and investigation thereof by this august court as also further proceedings in this matter shall be detrimental to the interest of the armed forces rather than helping it.…..

“That . . . . dragging the ex-service chief to the courts on a letter may be detrimental to the prestige, honour and dignity of the institution he has once represented. . . . .

“That Air Marshal (retd) Asghar Khan has approached this august court with ulterior motives and his representation is based on obvious malafides . . .

“That the answering respondent never received the alleged amount from Mr Younis Habib, respondent No.3, in person or through other means and emphatically denies the allegation made by Maj General (retd) Nasirullah Babar, the then interior minister, on the floor of the National Assembly on 20 April 1994. . . . . .

“That in early September [1990], Mr Younis Habib then serving in the Habib Bank Ltd as Zonal Chief had called on the answering respondent [Beg] and informed him that he was under instructions from the President’s [Ghulam Ishaq] Election Cell to make available a sum of Rs.140 million for supporting the elections of 1990. He stated that he will be available to collect this amount through his own efforts from his community as donations and that he was under the instructions of the Election Cell to place this amount at the disposal of the Director-General, Inter Services Intelligence who would handle this amount as per instructions of the President’s Election Cell.

“That in 1990 the National Assembly was dissolved and the government of Mrs Benazir Bhutto was dismissed. A caretaker government was formed to hold elections within 90 days. The then President, Mr Ghulam Ishaq Khan, had formed an Election Cell directly under him managed by Mr Roedad Khan/Mr Ijlal Haider Zaidi.

“That later on the answering respondent was informed by the Director-General, Inter Services Intelligence, that various accounts were opened and the amount of Rs.140 million was deposited in those accounts directly by Mr Younis Habib. Director-General, Inter Services Intelligence made arrangements to distribute these amounts amongst the politicians belonging to various political parties and persons as instructed by the Election Cell. . . . .

“That in 1975 Mr Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the then prime minister, created a Political Cell within the ISI organisation. As a result, the ISI was made responsible to the chief executive, i.e. the prime minister/president for all matters of national and political intelligence . . . .

“It is in the knowledge of the answering respondent that it was the practice with the ISI to support the candidates during the elections under the directions of the Chief Executive of the government. The receipt of this amount by ISI from Younis Habib in 1990 was also under the directions of the Chief Executive. DG ISI also informed the answering respondent that funds so received were properly handled and the accounts were maintained, and that President Ghulam Ishaq Khan was briefed by him on this matter. . . .

“That during this period, in his meeting with President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, the answering respondent had informed him about the donations made by Younis Habib and its utilisation by DG ISI under the instructions of the President’s Political Cell.. .

“That the petitioner has made the following allegations : (a) actions of General Mirza Aslam Beg and Lt Gen Muhammad Asad Durrani amounted to gross misconduct; (b) both have brought the armed forces of Pakistan into disrepute; (c) both have been guilty of undermining the discipline of the armed forces.

“That the above allegations are false, based on malafides and unfounded . . . .

“That DG ISI acted within the limits of the ‘lawful command’ received from the President’s Election Cell. Definition of ‘lawful command’ as interpreted by Pakistan Army Act Section 33 Note b(3) is : ‘A superior can give a command for the purpose of maintaining good order or suppressing a disturbance or for the execution of a military duty or regulation’, and Pakistan Army Act Section 33 Note b(11) : ‘A civilian cannot give a ‘lawful command’ under this sub-section to a soldier employed under him; but it may well be the soldier’s duty as such to do the act indicated.’.. . . .

“That actions of answering respondent and General Asad Durrani did not amount to gross misconduct. Orders were carried out under a lawful command.”

Questions which arise from a perusal of the above : Did Bhutto’s executive order of 1975 creating a political cell in the ISI have any legal cover, and is it still operative? Did President Ghulam Ishaq Khan act lawfully and correctly? Will Roedad Khan and Ijlal Zaidi, the managers of his Election Cell as named by Beg, in the larger national interest kindly elucidate, testify and enlighten us?

A letter from an MQM minion, Kunwar Khalid Yunus, was printed in this newspaper on August 15 in which he admitted “that Gen Beg’s one sidekick also reached Mr Altaf Hussain’s residence of Azizabad with one suitcase full of currency notes. Mr Hussain refused to accept it. After a few months, when Mr Hussain met Mr Beg [at] a function in Lahore, the former cynically asked if his expensive suitcase reached him safely. The latter sheepishly nodded.” Will Mr Yunus file an affidavit in court?

Lastly, may I again appeal to Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to take up this pending matter and let us have a decision before the next round of ‘fair and free’ elections. If press reports of August 17 are to be believed, President General Pervez Musharraf has clearly stated that he would be re-elected “at any cost” – at the cost of whose life and whose money?

Credits to Ardeshir Cowasjee  E-mail: arfc@cyber.net.pk

===

The Article was heart touching and Mr. Musharraf of ‘at any cost’ has left.I hope by this this media boom may tell my people what is behind the scene, who’s that Establishment controlling us.

The 6th of September is a golden chapter in the history of Pakistan, when Pakistan, its military and people stood united in 1965 in defense of Pakistan. Later in 1971, taking advantage of the civil war in East Pakistan, attacked and dismembered Pakistan in a humiliating defeat. In the first war the nation was united in the second war it was fighting with itself.

“Why is it, one may ask, that we still celebrate this day as the Defense of Pakistan Day when during the passage of 35 years since, we had another war thrust on us by India, with disastrous results and dismemberment of the country. In many ways people strongly feel that it is now more important to recall and remember the 6th of September as it was our ‘finest hour’ to borrow a famous Churchillian phrase. The 6th of September is important to us as a nation because the Indo-Pakistan war that followed was fought by Pakistan as a nation united in its determination and resolve to halt and beat back Indian multi-dimensional attacks against Pakistan,” as Lt. Gen. (Retd) Sardar F. S. Lodi states in The Nation newspaper, on Sept. 6, 2000.

While a number of decisions made by the Army High Command during the four wars fought by the country have been the subject of controversy, what has remained unquestioned is the valour displayed by thousands of jawans and young officers in all these conflicts.

The following selection of thought-provoking articles and analyses would further enrich our discussion, lessons, and memories on this year’s Defense Day, which we suggest should be renamed as memorial day:
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US strike claims innocent lives in Pakistan

Missiles fired from an unmanned aircraft have killed at least five people in the Pakistani tribal region of North Waziristan. According to local residents and officials, two women and three children died in the strike.

This is the third attack on militants operating from Pakistani soil in the past few days. On Wednesday, a helicopter strike allegedly carried out by US-led forces in South Waziristan left 20 dead, including women and children. On Thursday, at least five Taliban militants were killed when a missile from a pilotless plane hit a house in North Waziristan.

Wednesday’s attack met with outrage in Pakistan. There were calls in parliament to retaliate in cases of incursions into Pakistani territory by foreign troops. It is widely believed that US forces have stepped up their anti-Taliban offensive to reduce the chances of terrorist attacks ahead of Pakistan’s presidential elections on Saturday.

Last Attack
Pakistan furious over alleged US incursion

Pakistan is furious about an alleged US attack on its territory on Wednesday. Twenty people were killed in the helicopter raid on a Pakistani village in the Afghan border region. According to an anonymous Pentagon source, the target was a Taliban hideout.

Islamabad has summoned the US ambassador and lodged an angry protest. The Pakistani Foreign Ministry says attacks like this damage cooperation with the United States in the war against terror. Washington has not yet responded to the allegations.

I don’t know this government also sold to US or not but people are really angry and people are becoming more and more anti-American in Pakistan while US claiming good image in people.

Who US is to bomb Pakistan Land…If there’s really some one hiding there tell government of Pakistan they can better manage or bomb them.

I know one Thing by killing Innocents US creating more fighters (Terrorists for US) andmore resistance…..

Sources: 1 2 3

I really condemn this act.

What do you say ?