We’re back…

After a long unplanned absence we’re finally back…

Have had lots of malware issues and people hacking the site which has been a far from pleasant experience but a learning one nonetheless.

Will be posting again more regularly and things should be getting back to normal.

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Posted by Saif Siddiqui on August 8, 2010 in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Graveyard Etiquette

BBC NEWS | Magazine | Graveyard etiquette

It would appear that we are losing the tradition of respect for the deceased…

Maybe the public need more encouraging to visit graveyards and remember those that went before them…

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Posted by Saif Siddiqui on July 19, 2009 in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Paul Graham – Startups in Mass production

Paul Graham, founder of Viaweb, has an ambition – To mass produce the Startup!!!

And you know what…  with a track record as good as his and the startups he has created… I think you’ll find he’ll be pumping them off the production line and we just won’t know what hit us!!!

Take a listen to the audio from the Inc.com write up below and look at the pics/transcript here

Can Paul Graham Mass-Produce the Start-up?

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Posted by Saif Siddiqui on June 9, 2009 in News, Technology | Comments (0)

KFC Goes HALAL – FINALLY!!!!

Finally the powers that be at KFC have woken up to the fact that we Muslims love their chicken but are forced to eat poor imitations from rip-off branded chains providing inferior product.

Well our time has come… gone are the days of pining for Halal KFC in Dubai as you can not get it here!!!

Yes here in the UK!!!

Get full details here from the KFC site and find the nearest Halal branch to you & make sure you leave a comment asking for your local KFC to go Halal too!!!

The nearest branch to me is over half an hour away but its going to be well worth the drive!


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Posted by Saif Siddiqui on May 8, 2009 in General, Musings, Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Teaching Children to Think! – what ever next?!?!?

BBC NEWS | England | Berkshire | Programme teaches pupils to think

Programme teaches pupils to think
Anthony Seldon
Dr Seldon says education is about teaching the whole child

The headmaster of an independent school has employed a thinker-in-residence and a philosopher-in-residence to teach pupils “to think and reason”.

Dr Anthony Seldon, master of Wellington College in Crowthorne, Berkshire, believes the teaching of reasoning and philosophy is a “basic right”.

Dr Seldon, who also advocates well-being classes, hopes to put “discovery back at the heart of education”.

Author and education consultant Tony Buzan will be the thinker-in-residence.

We have allowed ourselves to believe it is all about exams and testing
Dr Anthony Seldon

The newly appointed philosopher-in-residence, Dr Julian Baggini, co-founder of The Philosophers’ Magazine, said the school’s scheme was “particularly important in such a fast-moving society”.

“In a culture of blogs and constant appeals in the media for people to text or e-mail with their thoughts, people need little encouragement to have opinions,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Buzan, known for his “Mind Maps” technique, said: “It [the project] will raise the profile of creativity in the curriculum and expand the concept of thinking.

“[This will] help forge the idea of a new 21st Century renaissance graduate, who will be capable and confident of dealing with the increasing demands of modern society.”

Pupils will learn how to construct arguments, understand reasoning and also be taught the basics of the philosophy of knowledge, as part of the programme involving teachers, parents and governors.

It was prompted by Dr Seldon’s concerns about the state of the national curriculum.

“We have allowed ourselves to believe it is all about exams and testing,” he said.

“Education is about teaching the whole child and this involves being taught how to think and reason independently.

“This is a basic right of each child, we have to put discovery back at the heart of education.”

Finally some sensible changes being introduced to the educational system!

Every child should be given the tools to think and understand the information presented to them. More important are the subjects of Logic and Philosophy.

It is about time that the state education system takes on board the fact that teaching children HOW to think and How to find information is actually of greater benefit to them in the long term than trying to pass exams in the short term.

Let’s see if others adopt this process soon.

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Posted by Saif Siddiqui on April 18, 2009 in General, Musings, News | Comments (0)

Initials for your logo? You need to read this!

Before & After magazine

0363 | How to design a logo of letters
Are you known by your initials? Turn those letters into a terrific signature! 28 pages, 2.6MB | Download PDF

This is an excellent resource for all you designers to look at and get some inspiration from when looking at designing logos from letters.

Follow the link and grab the download while its still there ;)

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Posted by Saif Siddiqui on April 17, 2009 in General, Musings | Comments (0)

Pirate Bay four go out in flames

BBC NEWS | Technology | Pirate Bay founders found guilty

A court in Sweden has jailed four men behind The Pirate Bay (TPB), the world’s most high-profile file-sharing website.

Frederik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Carl Lundstrom and Peter Sunde were found guilty of breaking copyright law and were sentenced to a year in jail.

They were also ordered to pay 30m kronor (£2.4m) in damages.

In a Twitter posting, Mr Sunde said: “Nothing will happen to TPB, this is just theatre for the media.”

Mr Sunde went on to say that he “got the news last night that we lost”.

“It used to be only movies, now even verdicts are out before the official release.”

The damages were awarded to a number of entertainment companies, including Warner Bros, Sony Music Entertainment, EMI, and Columbia Pictures.

The Pirate Bay is the world’s most high profile file-sharing website and was set up in 2003 by anti-copyright organisation Piratbyran, but for the last five years it has been run by individuals.

Millions of files are exchanged using the service every day.

No copyright content is hosted on The Pirate Bay’s web servers; instead the site hosts “torrent” links to TV, film and music files held on its users’ computers.

Critics of the trial say Swedish authorities only brought the case because of pressure from the US film industry.

Well what do you know…

The US film industry can exert some pressure after all ;)

Sad that they are fighting what is essentially the best distribution channel they will ever have! They need to change their business & billing models and move on.

P2P will not go away… they need to embrace it… surely this is common sense? A number of artists are adopting the direct sharing model and recouping the rewards.

What next???

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Posted by Saif Siddiqui on April 17, 2009 in News | Comments (0)