tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39949942011-12-14T19:10:29.274-08:00<i>wadi</i> n Arabic; valley.<p> <i>wallah</i> n Sanskrit <i>pala</i>; protector. A person associated with something. Usually used in combination, as here.<p> Thus <i>Wadiwallah</i>; valley person.<p> <i>Wadiwallah</i> is a Saracen (n from the Arabic <i>Sehra Nasheen</i>; desert dweller) currently living and working in the Silicon Valley/San Francisco Bay Area; an engineering grad with a Masters' in a social science. These are his experiences, opinions, and thoughts...<p>iFaqeernoreply@blogger.comBlogger461100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1151521609774865212006-06-28T12:06:00.001-07:002006-06-28T12:06:49.783-07:00

http://en.fon.com/Related Technorati Tags: Enron - Enron and Silicon Valley - Silicon Valley

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1150309892115099722006-06-14T11:30:00.000-07:002006-06-14T11:31:32.116-07:00

I am starting a regular commentary segment on WBT-TV, a Business and Technology program on Comcast Channel 15 in San Jose, California. This is the pilot edition and will be reposted in final form next week.The online home for this commetary is on my own website at http://ifaqeer.wikispaces.com/Technology+Society+and+You Please drop by there and engage in the discussion—or leave comments below.The

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1148600663458745472006-05-25T13:23:00.000-07:002006-05-25T16:45:04.160-07:00

The Enron verdicts came down today. Just heard the Prosecutor in that case say that the jury had "sent a strong message to boardrooms" against "lieing to the shareholders" and "puttting themselves above the interests of their employees".Now that's an interesting message. I'd love to talk about how that kind of message, if really conveyed, and really received, means for Silicon Valley.Let's have a

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1147891021456250802006-05-17T11:36:00.000-07:002006-05-17T11:37:01.456-07:00

Adil Najam's Pakistan- Based on Faiz Ahmed Faiz's "Hum Daiykain Gay".6 minutes and 35 secondsApril 24th, 2006Here's a personal testament from one Pakistani about his country. It's also a very interesting piece of electronic art incorporating one of the most popular pieces of Urdu poetry written in the 20th Century:http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6291983484610119600&q=pakistanTechnorati

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1147889855725481532006-05-17T11:06:00.000-07:002006-05-17T11:17:35.736-07:00

Apologise for the stream of consciousness nature of this post. And for being MIA again. Been a little tied-up and distracted. (Moving to new digs this week! is the good news.)I went to this month's Stanford/MIT VLAB's monthly event in the Bay Area (thanks McGuj, for hooking me up!), which was on "How to Monetize New Media Channels and Make Ad Revenue Real". That's Silicon Valley-speak for "making

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1139914182649338932006-02-14T02:49:00.000-08:002006-02-15T03:39:40.786-08:00

Friend and fellow writer/blogger Cemendtaur is in Pakistan for a while and has a photoblog providing a rather nuts and bolts stream from The Land of the Pure:http://karachiphotoblog.blogspot.com/My favorite post is the very first one; scroll all the way down to the bottom of:http://karachiphotoblog.blogspot.com/2006_01_01_karachiphotoblog_archive.htmlPS, February 15th, 2006: As a postscript to

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1139778307081239802006-02-12T13:04:00.000-08:002006-02-15T11:08:57.213-08:00

Back in September, I was invited to join a new blog in Urdu about technical topics. It's at:http://urdutechnews.blogspot.com/I haven't been able to contribute to it much. But the other folks are doing good work, if a little slowly. And they're having fun with it! Take the following post; a headline like the one at the top of this post would not be out of the ordinary, right? But Shoaib Safdar has

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1139261119395730992006-02-06T13:22:00.000-08:002006-02-06T13:36:10.003-08:00

Interesting insight, that. Friend of mine just forwarded the following link:http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2005/11/29/497861.aspx

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1138936779751384152006-02-02T19:19:00.000-08:002006-05-26T05:33:58.926-07:00

I am at the IRC briefing and will be posting updates on my blog--and will try to do as much as I can real-time:http://ifaqeer.blogspot.com/2006_02_01_ifaqeer_archive.html[See the bottom of the page for the posts from the event.]

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1138627044820474202006-01-30T04:38:00.000-08:002006-01-30T05:17:24.833-08:00

We've been spending weekends in a (relatively) small town an hour inland from San Francisco. I usually hang out with the kids, go fishing and the like. One thing I wanted to do was buy a laptop that we could use on the weekend and I could catch up on blogging and other sundry things I've been wanting to do.Which brings me to my trying to decide what computer to buy. Back on the 4th of July, I'd

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1138308357703501912006-01-26T12:45:00.001-08:002006-01-26T12:45:57.716-08:00

Interesting new initiative:http://www.stopbadware.org

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1138217439075122052006-01-25T11:26:00.000-08:002006-01-25T11:30:39.090-08:00

When we talk about "Outsourcing", especially here in Silicon Valley, we too often think almost purely in terms of IT. But here come a couple of stories about life beyond our little bailiwick. Interestingly, they both came in yesterday on the same list and, come to think of it, it is a list for people in Pakistan. I guess on the "receiving end", so to speak, there's life besides IT.The only other

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1137635468895605792006-01-18T17:50:00.000-08:002006-01-19T11:36:51.536-08:00

Was reading in the 'Merc (San Jose Mercury News, hometown newspaper of Silicon Valley) that the AutoDesk was changing CEOs after fourteen years. Now this is the company that makes AutoCAD, one of the first pieces of software I ever heard of, and have had friends that use it all along. Most of them mechanical engineers. Why do I mention that last point? Well, the article revealed to me, so to

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1137611500246922102006-01-18T10:56:00.000-08:002006-01-18T11:18:11.506-08:00

Just caught a bit of a song I rather liked on BBC Asian Network (in itself a new phenom worth discussing--desi, South Asian, radio the way it should be done!) and went looking for the name I thought they told me at the end of the set (this late afternoon listening in the UK): American Jugni.I found another song by the same artist (Bikram Singh), and one which actually addresses the topic of an

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1137610564975080342006-01-18T10:54:00.000-08:002006-01-18T10:56:04.986-08:00

I've had several starts and stops on this blog. I guess one issue is bandwidth. Namely mine. The other thing is that Silicon Valley is such a close knit community, that it is a little odd to talk about things in public. Or is it? Or rather, isn't Silicon Valley a bunch of close-knit communities that often don't mix with each other?But hey! Let's try this again; so here goes!

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1127297894341253282005-09-21T03:16:00.000-07:002005-09-21T03:18:14.346-07:00

I just posted the following on a few blogs I contribute to. It is specific to Urdu, but should apply to other scripts like Devnagri (for Hindi), Arabic, Farsi, etc...I have made a lot of noise along the way about blogging in Urdu and I promised instructions on how to install Urdu as a language that your Windows XP machine can handle. Here are the instructions, from the website of the Center for

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1126918429138299232005-09-16T17:53:00.000-07:002005-09-16T17:53:49.143-07:00

This has got to take the cake for cool devices...or just a sign of the times...http://newspaperads.mercurynews.com/ROP/ads.aspx?advid=32664&adid=2010274&subid=8681972Personally, I think I will wait till I have an urgent need--or we get up to about a terabyte for that price ;)

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1125460011729698852005-08-30T20:46:00.000-07:002005-08-30T20:46:51.733-07:00

Just discovered this:http://damnsmalllinux.org/Interesting...

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1125452544764173562005-08-30T18:42:00.000-07:002005-08-30T20:47:31.693-07:00

Opera, the fastest browser around I am told, is giving away ad-free versions today. Go to opera.com or download.com and get it.

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1125106935530311632005-08-26T18:40:00.000-07:002005-08-26T18:42:15.530-07:00

http://www.ecobusinesslinks.com/fuel_efficient_vehicles.htmwww.smart.com

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1125106838480207592005-08-26T18:39:00.000-07:002005-08-26T18:40:38.486-07:00

http://www.blogbusinesssummit.com/

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1122110419069605072005-07-23T02:20:00.000-07:002005-07-23T02:37:24.706-07:00

July's cover story in Spider magazine (the Dawn Group's Internet Magazine) is titled "Sifting Scripts: Is Urdu ready for the information superhighway?".Details and links are on the "Urdu ke Naam" blog:http://urdu-ke-naam.blogspot.com/2005/07/is-urdu-ready-for-information.html[Main blog at: http://urdu-ke-naam.blogspot.com/ ]The cover package includes a story on the Urdu blogosphere by yours truly

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1119649856055485022005-06-24T14:49:00.000-07:002005-06-24T14:50:56.060-07:00

The old cliche about down being up in certain cases just came up in my day job as a tech writer in the semiconductor industry; apparently, in this industry, sometimes, DOWN can be UP and UP can be GROUND.

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1113418787417007622005-04-13T11:58:00.000-07:002005-05-03T11:35:44.750-07:00

You have got to see this: http://www.siliconbeat.com/entries/2005/04/12/searching_for_a_home_try_craigslist_google_maps.html#moreThe site it talks about is at: http://paulrademacher.com/housing/

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1113416708011528162005-04-13T10:57:00.000-07:002005-04-13T11:25:08.013-07:00

Used to be a time when one's work e-mail address was often the primary address you had. One of the main reasons was that Hotmail's 1 MB and even Yahoo's 5/6 MB just couldn't be where you could hang your hat and receive brickbats and bouquets (especially if they were high resolution pictures of bouquets). Of course, some people also felt that having the words "Hotmail" or "Yahoo" in your address

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1113414993473620582005-04-13T10:41:00.000-07:002005-04-13T11:38:49.963-07:00

The Silicon Valley zeitgeist can throw up some interesting bumper stickers. There was:You're not a millionaire till you've sold the stock—and paid your taxes.And who can forget the ad for a brokerage that went:Last year, you were 29 and a millionare. This year, you're 30.And now I read about the:Your failed business model is not my problem. T-shirts.(Available from: http://www.cafepress.com/

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1112890494685109502005-04-07T09:11:00.000-07:002005-04-07T09:14:54.686-07:00

Keeps getting better! First, Google announced sattelite imagery on its maps site:http://maps.google.com (look for the "sattelite" link in the top righthand corner)and now someone forwarded this:http://yagoohoogle.com/PS: I don't like setting links to open in new windows. But if, like every wise person today--even my wife--you're using Firefox, you can right-click the links and open them in a new

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1112730514002637912005-04-05T12:44:00.000-07:002005-04-05T12:48:34.003-07:00

Interesting little service that let's you have at any site you hate...or love to hate...http://www.netdisaster.com/go.php?mode=dino&url=http://wadiwallah.blogspot.com

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1111826060396922372005-03-26T00:29:00.000-08:002005-03-26T00:59:19.983-08:00

I actually haven't read this article, so if someone does, please e-mail me () your thoughts?http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=77&e=1&u=/mc/20050209/tc_mc/insidebluetooth20Inside Bluetooth 2.0By Glenn Fleishman MacCentralWhen Apple included USB (Universal Serial Bus) in its first iMacs back in 1999, the company faced widespread ridicule from throughout the computing industry. The

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1111825725275604902005-03-26T00:28:00.000-08:002005-03-26T01:29:42.050-08:00

Someone just exclaimed "Plug and Play!" in a way that reminded me of the old "Lock and Load!" Is that the new war cry for the Yuppie Cubicle-Dwellers of Silicon Valley?

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1111696143218602912005-03-24T12:28:00.000-08:002005-03-25T12:17:08.130-08:00

Yahoo plays catchup ...againhttp://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=7980840http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/03/23/yahoo_ups_storage/

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1111630627745878252005-03-23T18:14:00.000-08:002005-03-23T21:23:38.790-08:00

New HTML EditorSome of us that made the transition from Mozilla to Firefox wondered where the Composer went. Now we know. It's hiding at:http://www.nvu.com/Seriously, a colleague just pointed me to that site, and Nvu ("N-View") seems to be the answer to all our prayers--and a perfect counterpoint to Firefox, the browser that has people like in a tizzy. It's a free and, I think, full-featured Web

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1111426542039680532005-03-21T09:32:00.000-08:002005-03-21T09:35:42.040-08:00

The Dream Lives On!Last week it was a bidding war between Oracle and SAP; just as this week starts, Ask Jeeves sells for 1.85 bn; just enough to keep us cubicle-dwellers toiling away day and night, I guess:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4367197.stm

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1111005114932987972005-03-16T12:30:00.000-08:002005-03-16T12:31:54.933-08:00

Gender Imbalances in TechnologyReality sometimes clashes with perceptions. I just had reason to say the following on a mailing list I am on:It's been a decade since I worked in Pakistan, but my experience is that the average electronic design or software software house has more women in R & D jobs than the average one in Silicon Valley.

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1108066884533375712005-02-10T13:20:00.000-08:002005-02-10T12:21:24.533-08:00

Following FireFox Firefox made both BusinessWeek and Newsweek in the same...er...week: in the January 24 edition of the former, it was mentioned on the cover and had piece on it in the latter.

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1107896039050923062005-02-08T13:53:00.000-08:002005-02-08T13:47:58.220-08:00

Firefox Progress The website stats on a blog or two I maintain tell me that 18% or visitors were using Firefox.

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1107394662063077852005-02-02T17:35:00.000-08:002005-02-02T20:34:43.913-08:00

Gas BuddyThe Silicon Valley/SF Bay Area is definitely one of the most expensive places in the country for gas. To find out what the price of gas is at a pump close to you (and not just in SiliValley) and how far you will have to go to save money, check out: http://www.gasbuddy.com and, specifically for this area: http://www.sanjosegasprices.com/

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1106942940713649252005-01-28T13:08:00.000-08:002005-02-02T20:35:09.573-08:00

Seen on a number plate frame in Silicon Valley—well, the East Bay, actually: Don't Tuck With My Fruck

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1106791429967895342005-01-26T18:02:00.000-08:002005-02-02T20:35:25.443-08:00

Linux To Go!http://www20.tomshardware.com/howto/20040303/index.html

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1106680656028404572005-01-25T11:15:00.000-08:002005-02-02T20:35:40.823-08:00

Vot?! No Hobbits?!Ron Owens over on KGO 810 AM had an interesting comment on the Oscars this morning:"For the first time since 2001, there are absolutely no Hobbits in the running."

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1106472753252159162005-01-23T01:12:00.000-08:002005-01-23T01:32:33.253-08:00

Any denizen of Silicon Valley worth his or her salt knows how and where to buy electronics--most of the time, anyways: You pick up the Merc and look at Fry's' daily specials. But wait! You don't have to subscribe to a paper just because of that: http://newspaperads.mercurynews.com/RopAds.aspx?adv=32664 Lucky that as US papers go, the Merc's a purty good 'un. Othewise, as a friend of mine put it

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1106387558294103672005-01-22T01:52:00.000-08:002005-01-22T01:56:39.310-08:00

BTW, gentle reader, you do know about: http://www.fuckedcompany.com right? Honest, it's not porn. If you operate on or aspire to the success of the dotCom'ish side of Silicon Valley—and we all wish we did— you absolutely must go there and check it out. More later.

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1106355224560257972005-01-21T16:51:00.000-08:002005-01-21T16:53:44.560-08:00

Have I mentioned this before: http://www.sanjosegasprices.com/ People in other areas can go to http://www.gasbuddy.com Oh, and this is useful too: http://www.sfbaytraffic.info/map.htm http://traffic.511.org/sfgate/

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1106269486530380472005-01-20T17:04:00.000-08:002005-01-21T15:48:50.436-08:00

A colleague pointed out some beta Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software that is apparently from Microsoft itself! He seemed to be happy with it--and did I mention it is free? http://www.download.com/3001-8022_4-10353596.html

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1105653272540267352005-01-13T13:54:00.000-08:002005-01-19T15:48:11.883-08:00

The concept of "Social Capitalists" seems to be going round: http://biz.yahoo.com/special/social05_article1.html Comments anyone?

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3994994.post-1105561200321077142005-01-12T13:04:00.000-08:002005-01-19T15:46:20.510-08:00

This blog hopes to present a view from the trenches in Silicon Valley. Your host is your typical cubicle dweller somewhere in this valley. I was an offshore developer--tech writer, actually--before most people had heard of the word, and before the dotCom boom, actually. I am from the South Asian, Indian if you will, Subcontinent; have worked on the East Coast; been laid off; been a manager;...you

iFaqeernoreply@blogger.com0