Miss Sharmeen Obaid WON the 1st ever OSCAR Award for Pakistan

Miss Sharmeen Obaid WON the 1st ever OSCAR Award for Pakistan
For the first time in the history of Pakistan and the OSCARS, a Pakistani filmmaker Ms. Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy has won the prestigious film award.
She won the award for her documentary film “Saving Faces”. The film highlights the vows of the women hit by domestic violence specially acid burn.
Sharmeen was also awarded an Emmy award. Herfilms include PAKISTAN’S TALIBAN GENERATION, which aired on PBS, Channel 4, CBC, SBS and Arte and was the recipient of the Alfred I Dupont Award as well as The Association for International Broadcasting award. Sharmeen has made over a dozen-multi award winning films in over 10 countries around the world and is the first non-American to be awarded the Livingston Award for best international reporting.

In 2007, Sharmeen was awarded the broadcast journalist of the year award in the UK by One World Media for her work in a series of documentary films for Channel 4, which included a film about xenophobia in South Africa THE NEW APARTHEID. Her other films have been awarded The Overseas Press Club Award, The American Women in Radio and Television Award, The Cine Golden Eagle award and the Banff Rockie Award.

Sharmeen was born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan and received a bachelors degree from Smith College and went on to complete two masters degree from Stanford University.

The Pirate Bay Will Ditch Torrents by March

The world’s largest BitTorrent tracker The Pirate Bay has confirmed the removal of its torrents – by the end of this month the tracker will take down all torrent files shared by over 10 people. Although the users of the service are a bit concerned with this move, The Pirate Bay reassures everyone that the service will simply undergo slight changes and will further maintain existing files available via magnet links. The website confirmed that it is currently evolving, and is under no real threat of going under.

The Pirate Bay, the most popular BitTorrent website for over 5 years, won’t allow .torrent file downloads on its servers anymore. According to its representatives, by the end of February they will take the preliminary steps of the changeover.

Rather than taking down all torrent files at the same time, the service would start with those that have over 10 peers. This will work as a guarantee that Internet users will still be able to download less popular files, known to everyone to start slower via magnet links. Although some people perceive this change as an indicator of decline of the service, this belief is completely ungrounded. For users of the website the pending changeover is actually expected to go smoothly.

It is known that people will still be able to download all files as they usually did, but they now have to consider the following difference: they will start their downloads through magnet links instead of .torrent files. This means that the users will download the real material of the .torrent file from other people rather than from the Pirate Bay’s servers.

As for download initiation speed, it is expected to drop a bit for less popular downloads, but on the other side, all files will still be available. Uploading .torrent files will also be available just as before, because the BitTorrent tracker will convert them into magnet links automatically.

The team of developers for The Pirate Bay explained that the transition to a magnet website will be considered “a step forward in technology,” which is actually expected to consolidate the website’s place on the web.

After torrents are taken down, it will take less bandwidth to host The Pirate Bay proxy website, which serves to bypass broadband providers’ blockades in such countries as Belgium, Ireland, Italy and The Netherlands. Moreover, the new Pirate Bay will also be able to score higher in terms of portability.

The Legend of St. Valentine - The history of Valentine's Day

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The Legend of St. Valentine - The history of Valentine's Day

(Courtesy: history.com)

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The history of Valentine's Day--and the story of its patron saint--is shrouded in mystery. We do know that February has long been celebrated as a month of romance, and that St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. But who was Saint Valentine, and how did he become associated with this ancient rite? The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beaten and tortured. According to one legend, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first "valentine" greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl--possibly his jailor's daughter--who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed "From your Valentine," an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories all emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and--most importantly--romantic figure. By the Middle Ages, perhaps due to this reputation, Valentine would become one of the most popular saints in England and France

Bollywood Stars Riteish-Genelia wed last week, as film and politics mingle.

Stage is all set for the marriage of Bollywood actors Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia D'Souza last week at a five-star hotel in Mumbai. Riteish (32) and Genelia (24) have been seeing each other since their Bollywood debut Tujhe Meri Kasam in 2003. Their wedding ceremony will take place at Grand Hyatt in suburban Santacruz. This is the first big marriage in Bollywood in 2012 and this happens to be the next much-hyped wedding ceremony of B-Town after Lara Dutta and Mahesh Bhupathi's marriage. Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia D'Souza's sangeet ceremony was held at Taj Lands End hotel in suburban Bandra on January 31. Reports suggest that two ceremonies will take place - a church wedding and a Maharashtrian one. However, in run up to the main ceremony, a pre-wedding bash was organised by actor Fardeen Khan and producer Sajid Nadiadwala on January 25. Besides preparing for the big day, Riteish and Genelia were also busy promoting their forthcoming film Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya, which will release in theatres on February 24.

PTI facebook pages hacked, millions of fans lost

Millions of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s fans are lost as more than 30 facebook fan pages have been hacked today in a single go. No one has taken the responsibility for this massive hack down of PTI’s facebook fan pages. Citing Insaf Students Federation Karachi President Arsalan Ghumman, a private TV channel reported that the official facebook pages of PTI chairman Imran Khan, Insaf Students Federation student wing, and several, more including that of Dr Alvi were hacked into and hidden from the public’s eye. The pages were hijacked at 3 pm on Friday, he said and added that “We are in touch with the Facebook authorities to recover them.” On the other hand, Facebook is notorious for taking such cases non-seriously. Reportedly, hacker first cracked the gmail id of Imran Ghazali, the web manager of PTI social media team, before cracking into facebook pages of the political party. It is unclear so far if pages were deleted or are kept private (hidden from public) by the hacker.

GoodCore’s Educational App for Preschoolers released and gets lauded

After the success of their popular Spot the Farm Animal, the GoodCore team presents the much-anticipated sequel: Spot the Jungle Animal!

The new app has been well-received to the extent that it got chosen as app-of-the-day by the popular parenting & educational website ‘SmartAppsForKids’. The goal of this website is provide the most complete source for parents and educators for info on an app before purchase (or in case of free apps, usage), their USP being unbiased, honest app “reviews” instead of promotions.

According to the reviews the app is “really cute straight free (no in-apps, no ads) app for toddlers and young preschoolers. There are A LOT of these identify-the-animal apps in the App Store, but this one is more well done than most and free!”

How Does It Work?

Get your young ones (age ~ 2 years) to explore the wild animals in a jungle. Watch as your child gets immersed in the sights and sounds of a Jungle and runs into colorful jungle animals on their way.

This app makes the animals appear “live” with subtle animations and vibrant colors. A friendly voice (think of her as your friendly preschool teacher) accompanies your child to the jungle, shows them around, and asks them to identify animals on the screen.

Just like any parent, we appreciate teachers who are friendly and encouraging. If the child makes a “mistake” in this app, the teacher gently – almost amused at the mistake – encourages them to try again.

If the child answers correctly, the teacher applauds the effort and moves onto the next animal on the screen.Watch as your child moves through five different jungle settings and identifies multiple animals on each screen.

You will love it when kids’ eyes lighten up looking at the colorful animal characters, at their voices, and how the animals react upon being touched!

Public welfare: ‘300,000 more laptops next fiscal year’

RAHIM YAR KHAN:

As many as 300,000 more laptops will be distributed among students in public sector education institutes in the province, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Thursday. He said funds will be allocated in the upcoming budget to this end.

Sharif was addressing a gathering after distributing 100 laptops among Danish school students in Rahim Yar Khan.

He said the government would distribute as many as 110,000 laptops during the ongoing campaign.

The chief minister said the establishment of Danish Schools in remote areas of the province was part of his government’s efforts to provide quality education to deserving students. He said the government was committed to promoting welfare of the people and upholding merit and transparency.

Earlier, Shahbaz Sharif inaugurated a recently-constructed grain market and laid the foundation stone of an industrial estate.

Speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony, he said he hoped the economy of the region would see a boom with the establishment of the industrial estate.

He urged the business community to invest in the estate and assured them of special incentives and state-of-the-art facilities.

The industrial estate will be set up in Chak No5 NP, Rahim Yar Khan, over an area of 455 acres.

Sharif also announced a Rs60 million grant for a project at the Rahim Yar Khan Chamber of Commerce and Industry secretariat.

The chief minister later inaugurated the grain market. The market has been constructed at a cost of Rs130 million and spread over 25 acres.