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I am Mustafa Hanif, final years student at FAST-NU Karachi, developer, designer and a street magician, head of the development team at WebMasters, and passionate about latest technologies and artificial intelligence.

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Hello guys,

This post is generally for freshmen and sophos especially for CS students, but everyone can read, so if you’re a senior or junior this is not for you.

Now what this article is all about? As a senior I noticed and understood a few things:

When we started out in our university life we had no clue what to do and most of us had no idea where the future would take us. Now when I see my batch mates I can see that things have changed a lot, people have come a long way from what they were to what they are, priorities have changed.

During our stay, FAST presented us with a tough life, which had many difficult tasks, such as passing courses, maintaining CGPA, making assignments and all.

Many of us easily survived through it and emerged victorious and successful, while others were not ‘successful’.

Many freshmen have approached me over the time claiming they were having a HELL time managing FAST. Many couldn’t understand programming, many had difficulties making assignments and making good groups in projects.

Well based on my experience I would like to share a couple of advices that may make your life a BIT easier: The list is sorted in ascending order of importance. All of the below points revolve around one basic point. You are strengthened by the people around you.

• Notice Board is your friend

Ever seen the notice board in FAST? Read it DAILY ! … You should have a clear idea on what is going around in FAST and what is happening in your courses. The next deadline of your assignment, mid term marks, events etc.

You should know the mid terms marks of your ENTIRE class, you should know the marks of the other section. You constantly need to evaluate where you stand. Remember the important part of the strategy is to keep your eyes and ears open to your surroundings. Its very important. The noticeboard is the gateway from your world to the outside world.

• Participate in Extra-curricular activities

This is textbook advice. Healthy body + Healthy Mind = Higher Performance. Do whatever suits you, play cricket, football, volleyball, table tennis etc. On a regular basis. Participate in events and competitions, there are all sorts of competitions coming up, programming competitions, debate competitions, painting, drawing, anything. You name it. You should have friends in the playground too.

You gain confidence in your skills and your ability to compete with others on equal grounds.

By participating in these activities you pop-up on the radar. People know your name whether you know theirs or not. Teachers know you, the staff knows you. And this helps a lot when you’re in trouble and you need favors. People help you.

• Join a society

I cannot emphasis enough about joining various societies in FAST. Your parents are paying a hell lot of money so that you may study in a university, you must avail the facilities your uni provides. Remember studying in a uni is less about academics and more about experiences.

Join a society that interests you,they have a society of every flavor. Not only being in a society gives you a break from the boring studies, but it also gives you authority and responsibility. Because you get to have a chance to do things your way, complete a task your way and do something that you LIKE and not do it because some professor wants you to do it. With a fresh mind you are more likely to score higher.

Being in a society will help you meet people will similar interests, people who love what you love, university is all about professional and personal relationships with PEOPLE. I will come back to this point later. Not only by being in a society gives you general respect in front of students and teachers but it also allows you to get a taste of the practical life.

• Become a nerd/geek

Most people in our uni carry a COOL image. They think reading books and sitting on compilers just doesn’t go with the groove. Well to be honest, the coolest people in FAST are nerds. Look around you and you will see. Someone people fear books and compilers. Well I have a fact for you, when you graduate you don’t become a engineer, doctor or artist. You become a SCIENTIST. A freakin scientist! so start acting like one.

Learn something new everyday whether its related to your course or not. Do what you love and become a geek in your own field. You never know when that extra skill might come in handy.

• Socialize !

This is the singular most important point that I want to emphasize. This is the reason I wrote this article.

Whatever I am, whatever I know, whatever I earn and whatever reputation I have is because I have the privilege and honor to hang around with the most amazing people of this time and age.

I know people who when joined FAST made 5 friends and till date they hang around with those 5 friends. They formed a comfort zone – a bubble. A bubble they wont break because they fear the outside world? They hate others? Its a mystery yet to be decoded.

We MUST break our bubble.

Then there are some who just come to uni to take classes and leave when the classes are over. I hate those people! What have such individuals gained?

Here’s a line from the Barny-level-legendary website cracked.com:

The only skills you really need to learn in high school and college are how to socialize and be a functioning human in society, because that’s the only thing you’ll be consistently doing for the rest of your life

Read more: http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-things-they-never-told-us/#ixzz1HinDHU4R

We are in a multi-cultural, multi-talented university. If we don’t reach out and interact with people then we have just wasted our time. Go out! make friends with people around. Being a freshman, make friends with those who excel in whatever they do and try to emulate them. Hang around with the geniuses of your class, see what they do, how they do it, learn from them – if needed beg from them. And your life will become easier.

You will not get these 4 years back. If you just wanted a degree and wanted to take classes then why did you join FAST in the first place? Join some third grade institute like Tabanis and you’ll be happy.

So go out make friends with good people and hang around them and learn from them to make your life easier.

Remember its the people, the experience, the environment that inspires you, and motivates you to excel as a person and as a individual.

Yours Truly,
Mustafa Hanif.

Three years ago I named my counter strike team “Anti Slashdot”. Slashdot is the nick name of my ‘old’ friend Osama Khalid. Back then I was pissed that he didn’t take me in his team because I was his friend, so I went head hunting and gathered whoever I knew and made a team out of a bunch of people who didn’t knew each other.

Believe it or not, here is the lineup of my first team : Buntu,Akif,Bassim,Danyal,Mustafa. People who are of my batch may find this very interesting.

I did win the first round but lost the next and was knocked out. I was very sad. My friend went on to the finals.

An year came and went … and Gaming Extreme Tournament again happened at FAST. Once again I went onto my knees to go into my ‘old’ friend’s team. But was not accepted due to my inferior skills. Although others did find a way in.

This time I tried to regroup my old team, but some of them had left the university, the ones that were left were Buntu and Akif. To my horror they had already made a team with our other friends. After a lot of crying at Achanak Hotel, Buntu agreed to do a one-on-one match with me at Tabish’s place, the winner will stay in the team. I lost the match. And hence with no team again.

But by this time our friend circle had grown into something good, so I forged a team with some other friends, unfortunately we were not good enough, and hence were knocked out in round two of GET. Sadness prevailed. My friend’s team played the finals again.

The third year was similar, after little effort I accepted that my place is with the team that played with me the last time, so we went again, and lost in round 2. Once again. Though, my friend’s team was crowned the champion team of FAST.

Then came my senior year, before I move on, let me tell you I am very sentimental when it comes to PC games, because they are the very few things that I am a bit good at. At the start of the semester, my ‘old’ friend installed Counter Strike in all of our FYP lab computers. Which resulted in gaming all day around. Luckily, I played a bit better, enough to catch the interest of a guy named ‘D-TOX’ who also played good too.

Before the tournament started, I went on a similar witch hunt, the one that reminded me of freshmen year. Even though my old team wanted to play including me, I ditched them, for just one reason, the reason that was now three years old, to qualify to a round where I would face my ‘old’ team but more importantly actually WIN the tournament.

Along with D-TOX and his friends we forged a team, we practiced, discussed strategies. This team ditched two of their players for me and my brother, who also came in at the last moment. Due to this I faced a lot of heat from the aggrieved party. Also my best friend Usama Jabbar was also angry that I ditched him.

But everything was acceptable for the ultimate goal. We went in and won our first round 15-0. This match actually gave me hope of things to come, out of the 32 teams we were in the round of 16. In this round we thrashed another team from our batch. And reached the final 8 teams.

Here we faced some gurus from Telecom dept. We comfortably beat them and were in the final 4.

Our semi-final match was with my ‘old’ friend. Pumped up. Excited. Scared. We went it.

And for the next 30 minutes, everyone in lab 6 witnessed one of most entertaining match ever. They never thought that under-dogs like us would be here.

We played neck to neck with them and held our nerves. But unfortunately, our skill, team chemistry and experience came in the way. The only thing that kept us going was courage, hope and emotions.

We lost to a far superior team. We are either the 3rd or 4th ranking team in FAST. It may not mean much to anyone other than myself. But in the end that is what matters the most: The thing that matters most to you.

I thank Tabish Ahmed, Basit Moosani and everyone else who were part of GET to give us an opportunity.

An opportunity to do something that is more closer to the heart than the mind …

It was 1:30 AM, I was sitting on my laptop in my home in Clifton, when I heard the sound system of a car outside my home. So I went outside to check who it was at this time.

A completely tinted black new Corrolla was outside my home with a green number plate. A guy was standing near the corner of my outside wall and was PEEING on it, and he had a WINE bottle in his hand, and long hair. Another was standing nearby, wearing white new shalwar kameez and long hair. I looked at both of them and gestured with my hand like “man what are you doing”.

In reply the guy who was peeing and completely drunk said, “bhai kia masla jao andar jakar so jao”. When he said that a girl poked her head out from the backseat and looked at us.

At this the other guy interrupted and said to me “yaar sorry tumharay ghar ke aagey ker raha hai, is ko buhat lagi huwi thi aur mar raha tha, sorry yar”. He did’nt look sorry though. Meanwhile the other one kept peeing. At this point it was clear that even if the guy was crapping too I could’nt have done anything, because having the experience of facing similiar people before, I knew that if I showed anger, they would have taken out their gun and then silenced me.

With a rage in my heart and sadness on my face I went inside back to my laptop and waited for them to go away. I am not a poor guy and I do not live in the slums. Still I was humiliated and my house was peed on by the sons and daughters of the people we vote. Fuck You Govt. of Pakistan. Fuck You.

Hey everyone, most of the people I know are bored on the internet and hang around on Facebook. But there is a limit to what time you can spend on Facebook. You need something else.

Below are 10 fun websites, which you can hang around for HOURS and see time fly by. Honestly they are addictive.

1. Youtube

This site does not need any introduction. It is the second biggest search engine after Google. But some people don’t know how to find good videos in youtube, let me give you a tip, type “do it yourself” in youtube search bar, watch the any video and keep clicking related videos, you won’t know how time passed.

www.youtube.com

2. Fmylife

One of my favorite site, on this site people write moments of their daily life that make them believe that their lives are seriously phucked up. Just read them, they are highly entertaining and funny.

www.fmylife.com

3. Failbook

Another really crazy website, on this site, people post status or wallposts of people from Facebook, these posts border from funny to pure ridiculous, just visit this site, you’ll be laughing like crazy.

www.failbook.com

4. Cracked.com

This is the BEST website when it comes to funny content, the content is highly original and very, very funny. I recommend this site to EVERYONE. Just visit.

www.cracked.com

5. Engrish

This website is also very funny, it posts pictures from around the world where something is supposed to be written in English but then done poorly. Like in Pakistan where we see “Mobile Toons”.

http://engrishfunny.com/

6. Sixbillionsecrets

This website isn’t exactly funny, its kinda depressing, but I love the idea, people come here and post their deepest darkest secrets about themselves, and others comment on it and give them hope. Do check it out. You will be surprised and shocked at what people do.

http://www.sixbillionsecrets.com/

7. Lifehacker

Now for all the geeks out there, this is a great site with a wealth of information, tips and tricks to things you can do, guys must check this out

http://lifehacker.com/

8. Digg

You must be thinking I am getting lazy, but this site has bookmarked great things from around the web, just check it out

www.digg.com

9. 
   

   Delicious

   A unique idea, where people bookmark their favorite stuff for the world to see, check out for some interesting stuff

   http://del.icio.us

10. 
    

    GivesMeHope

    Not exactly my favorite site, but here people post stuff from daily life which they find inspiring, loving and optimistic. Its kinda opposite of fmylife. Girls must check this, guys stay away.

    http://www.givesmehope.com/

These are my favorite website for time pass. If you have others please do share in the comments section. Thank you.

This tale has never been told. This saga has never been documented.

Prepare for a unique narration of escape, of sacrifice and tragedy.

Coming soon to a browser near you.

I am checking to see how the post looks like from Windows Writer.

No matter how hard we try we cannot deny the fact that electricity is no longer a part of our lives. Every day for a few hours we do have electricity, but what about the rest of the hours?

Well for the assistance of fellow Pakistanis, we have come up with a list of 14 fun things you could do during load shedding.

Manual Generator
Firstly, if you have an automatic UPS(Uninterrupted Power Supply) or a generator, make it manual. So that whenever KESC decides to pull of the plug, you would need to waste some time – time which you eagerly want to waste – starting up the generator or UPS.

Play hide and seek
You could also play hide and seek with your brothers and sisters, taking advantage of the darkness you guys will have a great time hiding and finding.

Play detective
You could become a detective and go around your house with a torch in hand, and find things that you normally wont.

Play board games

Normally you would never play board games with your family like Monopoly and Parchi Parchi because of the recent developments in video games. So now would be a good time to do that.

Annoy those siblings

Little brothers and sisters are always a great asset during boring times. Just start the chain reaction by stealing something from them or by planting a kick on them, or even better hit them with a water balloon, then watch the fun unfold as they go haywire.

Hate the neighbor

Go outside and ring doorbells of your neighbors, go hide behind the bush and watch angry people opening doors and yelling in empty air; certainly better than those fiction movies you see.

Joke around

Do you have those jokes saved in you waiting to get out, now would be a good time to tell your friends and family all those crazy jokes and watch everyone rolling and laughing on the floor.

Meet your family

If your grandparents or cousins live around, now would be a good time to meet your family and chat with them, if you are a university student, I have a firm belief that you don’t connect with your family.

Build those packs!

Instead of turning your tummy into a basket ball, use this time to lift up some weights and and bend down and turn around, and do whatever it takes to become fit, again.

The half faith

Ever considered cleaning your room, no? Yeah its very rare but there are few things that need to be done. Clean your room, clean your cupboard, see if your things are at there proper places. Also clean up that dust-bowl that you call your computer. Doing this also has an upside, it puts a smile on your parents’ faces.

Where do these wires go?

How about ordering and setting up those wires that come from nowhere and go nowhere but clutter your workspace.

Scare the grass out of them

Telling horror stories in the midst of candle lights is very creepy and scary. The scary moments these stories bring always take darkness to a whole new level.

Make something to eat

Us univeristy students find little time to eat something. Now is a good time to make or cook something for yourself and eat it all up.

Annoy those siblings

Little brothers and sisters are always a great asset during boring times. Just start the chain reaction by stealing something from them or by planting a kick on them. Then watch the fun unfold as they go haywire.

Here is a comic I made in first semester. Thought I should share it

Dont forget to comment