The Social Geek

Some People

Kamran — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 06:59:32 +0000

Some people are great to be with, and some people are great to work with; I really wish I had more people with both the qualities!

Pixsense Pakistan closing down its operations

Kamran — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 10:06:00 +0000

It has been confirmed that Pixsense is closing down its direct presense in Pakistan. Pixsense has already let go 60% of its employees.

Talks are underway to move the remaining former PixSense team under another leading software company in Karachi. Any guesses

I know the rage that drives you

Kamran — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:06:54 +0000

I know the rage that drives you. That impossible anger strangling the grief, until the memory of your loved one is just poison in your veins. And one day, you catch yourself wishing the person you loved had never existed, so you'd be spared your pain.

(Henri Ducard - Batman Begins)

Buncha Losers!

Kamran — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 09:44:41 +0000

yeah! I'm talking about Pakistan Cricket Team!

JQueryUI Date Picker Widget IE Jerk

Kamran — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 20:28:06 +0000

I was having trouble showing the JQueryUI's DatePicker widget properly in IE while working on one of the projects. I kinda got frustrated as the datepicker was not animating properly and then once we selected the date, it got a jerk once selected, which was not really liked by the client. So I got hit by the idea of HTML doctype declaration - as IE (and other browsers) affect the rendering of the elements a lot when using different doctypes. These are famously known as "browser modes", those that I recall are 'standards mode' and one called 'quirks mode' but anyways... enough theory, let's talk about the solution:

I had a doctype similar to the following:

I changed it to that of the official URL of the demo:

And once I did that, it started rocking in IE and the client was happy

Life…

Kamran — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:56:30 +0000

Life is only action and reaction. The rationalizations are added later - Ibn-e-Safi

Ramadan Greetings :)

Kamran — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 09:31:14 +0000

Happy Ramadan to all of you! I'm toooooo busy setting up my new house along with my current job. Looking forward to a blessed month

Happily Married

Kamran — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:44:17 +0000

Hi Fellaz, I have a news for you. I got married on 4th July. I married Madiha, she is an excellent person, super cool bandi and would you believe it, an awesome software engineer. I *might* be posting some pictures real soon. These days I've been trying to follow up with work and the usual shadi chores.

Workwise, it's been going nice. Ciao.

Nahi Rakhta Dil Mein Kuch

Kamran — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 07:40:16 +0000

This is one of my most favorite songs sung by Lucky Ali, the Indian musician and written by Syed Aslam. I'm posting the lyrics here for a pleasurable read

Nahin rakhta dil mein kuch rakhta hoon zubaan par
Samjhe na apne bhi kabhi

Keh nahin sakhta main kya sehta hoon chupakar
Ek aisi aadat hai meri

Sabhi to hai jinse milta hoon sahi jo hai inse kehta hoon
Jo samajhta hoon

Maine dekha nahin rang dil aaya hai sirf adaa par
Ek aisi chaahat hai meri

Bahaaron ke ghere se laaya main dil sajaakar
Ek aisi sohbat hai meri

Saaye mein chaaye rehta hoon
Aankhen bichaye rehta hoon jinse milta hoon

Kitnon ko dekha hai humne yahan kuch seekha hai humne inse naya

Pehle phursat thi ab hasrat hai samaakar ek aisi uljhan hai meri

Khud chalke rukta hoon jahan jis jagah par
Ek aisi sarhad hai meri

Kehne se bhi main darta hoon apnon ki dhun mein rahta hoon.
Kar kya sakhta hoon

De sakhta hoon main thoda pyaar yahan par
Jitni haisiyat hai meri

Reh jaaoon sab ke dil me dil ko basaakar
Ek aisi neeyat hai meri

Ho jaaye to bhi raazi hoon
Kho jaaye to main baaki hoon
yun samajhta hoon

Raste na badle na badla jahan phir kyon badalte kadam hai yahan

Nahin rakhta dil mein kuch rakhta hoon zubaan par
Samjhe na apne bhi kabhi

Keh nahin sakhta main kya sehta hoon chupakar
Ek aisi aadat hai meri

Effective Software and Team Work

Kamran — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:23:43 +0000

The following paragraph is a book excerpt taken from the really cool C++ in Action by Bartosz Milewski and I think I like what he says

"There is a popular unflattering stereotype of a programmer as a socially challenged nerd. Somebody who would work alone at night, subsist on Twinkies, avoid direct eye contact and care very little about personal hygiene. I've known programmers like that, and I'm sure there are still some around. However most of the specimens of this old culture are becoming extinct, and for a good reason. Progress in hardware and software makes it impossible to produce any reasonably useful and reliable program while working in isolation. Teamwork is the essential part of software development."

I have to say, Milewski's book is one of the rare few books that are actually free from any marketing deep shit and feels very much like a friendly and common sense conversation between the author and the reader. Most books go through extensive editing I believe (to try and make it more sellable and pricey, which is rhetorical), but this one's not and I love it for that reason! Go read it and have a good doze of fun and knowledge!