Shahbaz Shiekh is an old friend, a telecom engineer and is completing his Masters from UTD. He writes on and off at Ronin. Here is another piece written by him that I wanted to share with my readers.

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A very common habbit among chronic tele watchers….. falling asleep on the couch while watching TV. If someone took a picture of me, asleep on the couch, my mouth ajar, accumulated drool on my collar and the remote control in one claw like hand, and then showed it to me then well… I would obviously feel pretty silly.

On one such night while I had fallen asleep gracefully watching TV, I had a dream. I dreamed that I was sitting on a bench in the park, the evening was giving way to a cool and pleasent night, when an old man came and sat beside me. His clothes were all wrinkled and dirty and signs of hunger and exhaustion were evident on his face. His eyes were dull and told you that that old man had absolutley no self esteem left. This old man was just waiting to die.

“Hello son.” He said in a gentle and slow voice.

“What do you want? Go away. Stupid old creature. I don’t have time to waste on you.” I replied harshly. I then reached into my pocket and pulled out a TV remote control, pointed at the old man and started pressing the buttons furiously. The remote control had some strange effect on the old man and he fell down from the bench, clenching his heart in pain.

“Please! Don’t hurt me. I just wanted some of your time.”

“I said… I don’t have time for you.”

“But don’t you remember me?”

“No!” I pressed some more buttons and the old man winced in more pain.

“Remember. When you were young, you used to wait for me every Saturday night, and I would bring you a nice english movie and you would watch it with your sister.”

“Ugly hag!!” It seemed that today I knew no mercy. I started shaking the remote control at him.

“…. and in the morning before you left for your school, I showed you your favorite cartoons and then you would talk about them with your friends in school all day.”

“…. die, Die, DIE!!!!” I was getting angrier.

“….. and when it was evening; you, your mom, grandma and siblings would watch me play a drama and then when it was over all of you would anxiously wait for the next episode.”

My rage grew cold and turned to stone. I brutally kicked the old man in the gut and spat on him. I laughed and said: “Hahahaha! You are so old. You are so clumsy. No one likes you any more.”

“Do you hate me too?” He asked feebly, tears in his eyes.

“I always hated you.” I replied giving him a disgusted look.

“Well, I always loved you.” He said and died.

I woke up with my mouth ajar, drool accumulating on my collar and the remote to the TV in one claw-like hand. And I asked my self: “Did I always hate PTV?”

Back in the days before the VCRs sat under television sets or before the Dish Antennas dwelled on rooftops or before the internet made mere mortals ubiquitous, PTV was the undisputed king of entertainment in Pakistani homes. People relied on PTV to tell them about the world (…. aaj ka khabarnama), people counted on PTV to make them laugh and people believed that watching PTV as a family made them a complete home.

What many people don’t know is that that is still the order of the day for a few Pakistanis. Well, not few but a lot of Pakistanis. Say…. about 50-60%. Contrary to popular belief that cable is EVERYWHERE; cable television services have still not penetrated the rural Pakistan (and also the larger Pakistan). So those poor folks (if they are fortunate enough to have a TV) will just get whatever is in the air, every where: PTV.

So the next time you look down upon PTV and say “Hahahaha! You are so old. You are so clumsy. No one likes you any more.” just think about the simple mundane lives of your country men, PTV is still trying its best to fill with color.

And besides, isn’t PTV the only channel which one can watch with his mom without getting up for a glass of water even though he is not thirsty?

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This article was brought to you by: Evil Brodcasters Assocaitions, Slavery of Speech foundation, The Sanctimonious Military Regiem and Karshi Ka Jame-e-Shereen.

Popularity: 23% [?]

Asim is a Fast graduate and a brilliant professional. He is a web developer, designer, teacher and a very dear friend. Over the time he has also developed the art of writing/blogging. Here’s his latest post for RONIN.

We easily fall for a fake picture that we start taking as the actual one. Two three praises from a couple of people and we start defying the truth that we are NOT the best ones out there.

When it comes to Computer Professionals; the severity of the matter is that every tom, dick and harry starts thinking he knows a lot just because he has developed 2-3 pieces of bull-crap software. We shouldn’t be that superficial! It’s ironic that most of the people you will come across with in our field thinks they are good. Either they think they have (eventually) become good or they think they were good since ever.

The problem roots from various factors but the lethal one is the series of fake praises and compliments mostly by your supervisors, boss or colleagues. They do that just so as to get work from you and nothing else. Inside they must be thinking: “What a loser” whilst uttering the praiseful words.

There are a couple of established rules and first of them is:

“Never EVER take your boss’s or your colleague’s praises and pats as your credibility measure.”
Your boss praises you not because he believes in your skills or intellects; nobody gives a damn to your skills and intellects; your boss praises you because he thinks that’s one of the ways to keep this idiot motivated. For majority of the supervisors out there in the industry - fake praises and compliments is a motivation trick. It’s only wise not to fall for it.

Your colleagues praise you because they want to be in the “good books”. People usually avoid being blunt and straight-forward simply because they want to be in your good books. Remember that!

Think out loud:

Come to think of it — why would someone (your boss or whoever) be incidentally and suddenly interested in your self-being? Your appraisal, your career uplifting, your skills? Why? Is it really “sincere” or is itsomething that has a hidden intention and motive behind itself? Youshould ask yourself. Sincerely.
You will be an idiot if you start believing that you’re extra-ordinary because the people you work with praise you. One wouldargue: ‘they know me “in-depth” because they are working with meand as a result they know how ‘talented’ I am. Therefore, their praises are legitimate.’ That is what a bull would refer to as “crap”.

Benchmark Yourself:

One should always judge themselves. There is no hard and fast rule. Just like 2 people are not the same, similarly two people can never be judged on the same criteria. You should work up a benchmark table exclusively for yourself. Don’t compare it to others. Don’t compare it with others. Compare yourself with and to yourself only; your previous records and see if you have improved overtime. For us, improvement is a continuous struggle. Knowing how much we have improved is a hidden treasure.

We should all keep track of how much we have improved from our previous state; that is one easy way to quick self-confidence building. The motivation you get from such can not be paralleled by other means.

Popularity: 20% [?]

Beeca is a regular writer for Ronin. Her previous post includes Verbal Abuse.

The basic goal of every organization is to gain profit by offering there product/ services to the potential market and customers. Selling is a very complex method it requires an immense deal of communication

FOCUS ON BENEFITS AND QUALTIY:

Tell your customers about the benefits your product/ service will provide in an elite manner always compare your product to the market leaders and tell what they have failed to provide. Always emphasis on the superior quality and latest technology used by your company. skills as if u are not able to convey your product’s features and quality in a positive manner you will be fired the next working day. So in order to know the knack of selling one should keep in mind the following techniques.

KNOW YOUR PRODUCT: before launching the product in the market one should be well aware of the product features, quality, services and what tangible and intangible benefits will this product provide to the potential customers unless you don’t know about the attributes present in your product you cant compel a customer to buy the product as there are several product available in the market.

Once you know about the product you are good to go…

If your product/ service is in the initial phase or if it is a new company than the pressure is more you already have latent competitors which are existing in the market place and doing relatively a good job as in this case your responsibility increases many folds as it is a period of slow sales growth as the product is new profits are nonexistent because of heavy expenses incurred in product / services development.

So when the product/ service is new than emphasis on UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION. (USP) i.e. tell the customer what is so exclusive about your product why the customer should buy your service among the existing alternatives. Clearly define the individuality.

Emphasis on Total quality management (TQM) which includes performance and conformance quality, performance quality is the durability, guarantee, warrantee customer support service etc. while conformance is the promise to deliver what has been said.

HEAVY ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION: advertise your product tactfully and target every segment of the market. Promotion as in participation in trade fare, free sampling etc, publicity as a positive word of mouth by an affluent member of the society and an article on the website or on your favorite blog example ammar.fuzedbulb.com might do

Now the next and the last step is the pricing of your product or service if the potential market is unaware of your product and those who know about it is eager to have it at any cost than bingo the ball is in your court charge premium price and increase your market share and enjoy a promotion and give a tough time to your competitors. It is called rapid skimming.

If your market is in limited size and most of the market is aware of the product buyers are willing to pay a high price and potential competition is not about to happen than charge high price and reap the fruit of ignorance it is called slow skimming.

Never give your customer the upper hand try to enhance your convincing power and know about your customer, target market’s needs, wants and desire thoroughly have your

Popularity: 55% [?]

[Note: Beeca Nadir is an MBA graduate and a professional banker. Shes a feminist, public speaker and a good cook]

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me….. (Anonymous)

Contrary to the common belief that only physical beating defines domestic violence is totally incorrect as verbal abuse is as damaging to an individual, if not more. Only healthy development of body is not enough as mental space is equally important. It is the psychological intrusion of the self that inflicts the major damage.

Abuse is a form of long term torture rather (slow poisoning) usually done by the victim’s close relatives, boss etc. it is an obliteration of trust and leads to bewilderment, fear, depression, dejection and suicidal tendency in the ill-treated. Whereas physical beating is the very familiar form of abuse, but words that assault or harm a person, and force one to believe a false statement constitute emotional violence. Verbal abuse is damaging to the soul, it makes the victim less confident with lower self-esteem. The abuser principally focuses on making the victim feel worthless. Name calling is the most common form of verbal abuse while yelling, intimidating, accusing, belittling and criticizing come in the category of verbal abuse as well. It is mostly experienced in a married relationship and usually women are the victims.

Verbal abuse is not confined to the lower strata of our society but middle and upper class is also experiencing at the same level. Women thank Allah that at least their husband is not beating them. It is very harmful to children who constantly witness verbal or physical abuse as they feel threaten too.

Though I am not a clinical psychologist but according to me “emotional abuse is worse in the long run and later physical abuse is always a possibility.” It makes the women feel more isolated in her pain and the mental stress gradually affects her entire out look of life. The constant scolding, insult, threats and ridiculing, create a risk of post-traumatic stress disorder. It can also lead to nervous breakdown or result in severe depression this can encourage suicidal attempts, another important fact that often goes unrecognized is that some males also encounter verbal abuse as their spouse are not capable of physical abuse. Because of their disability in generating good income or male dysfunction etc males become a victim of constant insult, verbal abuse and yelling.

Is celebrating women’s day the solution to the problems? Unfortunately, exposure to verbal aggression has received little or no attention as a specific form of abuse. Verbal abuse may have more lasting effects than other forms of abuse as it is continuous. It should be discourage the first time and under no circumstances one should tolerate.

So all the men out there please handle your spouses, girlfriends with care as they are fragile and need loads of support from their loved ones please don’t shatter their confidence.

Popularity: 43% [?]

Stand back all bosses! A new breed of workforce is about to attack everything you hold sacred: from giving orders, to your starched white shirt and tie. They are called, among other things, “The Echo Boomers.” There are the Generation Y, born in the 80’s, and they’re rapidly taking over from the baby boomers who are now pushing 60.

They were raised by doting parents who told them they are special, played in little teams with no winners or losers, or all winners. They are laden with trophies just for participating and they think your business-as-usual ethic is for the birds. And if you persist in the belief you can, take your job and …errr…well…shove it.

The workplace has become a psychological battlefield and the millennials have the upper hand, because they are tech savvy, with every gadget imaginable almost becoming an extension of their bodies. They multitask, talk, walk, listen and type, and text. And their priorities are simple: they come first.

Faced with new employees who want to roll into work with their iPods and flip flops around noon, but still be CEO by Friday, companies are realizing that the era of the buttoned down exec happy to have a job is so dead. It’s a future of sweet talking bosses, no more “Pay your dues just like I did.” If this generation knows anything, it’s that there are more jobs than young people to fill them. The attitude is ‘If you don’t want me, Mr. Employer, I’ll go sell myself down the street. I’ll probably get more money. I’ll definitely get a better experience. And by the way, they’ll adore me. You only like me.’

And in case you are wondering why FORTUNE has selected Google as the number 1 employer, it’s because of the fact that they are truly a GenY’ers paradise. Watch out the following video:

Source: CBS, 60 minutes, “The Millennials are coming“.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBvU0_UXCgk&rel=1]

Popularity: 19% [?]