The brilliant people at Green & White and P@SHA in collaboration with tech leaders of our IT industry have started the Pakistani version of the renowned BarCamp – and after the resounding success of the first edition in Karachi and another scheduled on Thursday for Islamabad – the geeks and nerds would land in Lahore and assemble at Vahzay’s premises on 1st of February, 2008.

Date: 1st February, 2008
Time: 1800 hrs – 2100 hrs
Venue: VahZay Pvt Ltd. 19-A1, E-II, Gulberg-III, Lahore
Directions: From the Liberty roundabout on Main Blvd. Gulberg, go towards Qaddafi stadium. When you get to the roundabout just before the stadium gate, make a left. The Hockey stadium should now be on your right.
Go about 200 meters and make a left in the first street you see on your left. There is a Punjab Book Board office at the corner with a big sign up-front, hard to miss.
Go 100 meters and the first gate on the left is VahZay. There is plenty of parking along the wall that runs in this street from the turn all the way to VahZay gate.

Have a look at this map.

Entrepreneurs who will be there include:

Imran Zia, CEO, VahZay
Kewan Khawaja, co-CEO, Techlogix
Monis Rahman, CEO, Naseeb Networks
Osama Hashmi, CEO, CDF Software
Sajjad Kirmani, VP, Netsol Technologies
Fahd Bangash, CEO, Amaana
Hasan Rizvi, CEO, Five Rivers Technologies
Shehzad Ahmed, CEO, Descon

Who should attend? Quoting Osama Hashmi of G&W:

Bring everyone around you who has the spark to change the world but doesn’t think there is enough support from the industry to get going. These people are here to help.

Bring your demos if you’re looking for funding, bring your ideas if you’re looking to start on the demo.

Bring your cameras and camcorders.

Finally, bring an open mind so we can all have a lot of fun, sip some deep deep coffee and talk startup.

This is your chance to draw inspiration from the people who’ve ‘been there, done that’. The event is FREE and OPEN TO ALL – it’s an event not to be missed. So, come one, come all!

More details can be found at:
Green & White
P@SHA News
In the Line of Wire

With A4P’s coffee temptation, LMB completed its 2,000th post.

Yew Hoooo!

*distributes free ‘I Dil LMB’ stickers among visitors*

Are you looking for a delicious way to wipe away the chills?? I so want to do so after seeing this awesomish cafe’ designing by Jammin Java.

Yummy Cappuccino that you may not even want to spoil ;-)

Can you smell it??

Coffee Courtesy: Maliha

Shaadi (wedding) season in Lahore is in full swing these days for which winter months of November, December, January and February are considered as ideal. And in traditional Pakistani weddings, aatish-baazi (fireworks display) is an essential component for Baraats (groom’s arrival at the bride’s home). Crackers and Shurlees are fired as an expression of celebration and happiness for the two families tying the knot while children can’t resist playing with crackers, and bang-pranks of every kind.

Fireworks depict merry moments, however, if played with carelessness, can turn celebration into tragedy. Many a times we hear about things going wrong when some mischief related to fireworks causes fire and results in loss of property, in some cases, even precious lives.

Everyone is advised to practice caution and play it safe with fireworks. Keep children away from firing crackers alone, without an adult’s supervision and store the material in a safe and proper way. Just zooming through DT’s website and I found these useful tips to keep one safe from fire hazards:

* Plan your firework display in advance to make it safe and enjoyable

* Keep fireworks in a closed box and use them one at a time

* Read the instructions on each firework carefully

* Keep flames, including cigarettes, away from fireworks except when ready to set them off

* Light the firework at arm’s length with a taper and stand well back

* Never go back to a firework once it has been lit, even if it doesn’t go off

* Don’t put fireworks in your pockets and never throw them

* Point all rocket fireworks well away from spectators

* Never use paraffin or petrol on a bonfire

* Make sure that the fire is out and surroundings are made safe before leaving

In Pakistan, and specifically in Lahore, most of the fireworks are either imported or smuggled in from India and China while many in this business operate without adopting any safety measures threatening safety of the people at the facility as well as to those using these.

Government, on and off takes a tough stand against illegal manufacturers of unsafe fireworks related products just like today the City District Government of Lahore is cracking down on such elements through-out the city.

If you have such illegal businesses operating in your neighbourhood, report them immediately to the police or to the City District Government officials.

Live and let live safely!

Can you guess where this billboard stands??

GuessWin offers exciting prizes and the much-esteemed GuessWin Trophy to those who dare guess the place in visual presentation

Anyone who thinks recovering from loss of precious electronic data in a USB drive is easy must be a Tech-Muggle freak.

Fine, you were tempted; ok, you got the opportunity of checking everything personal and classified in my bag; yeah yeah, it was my fault as I forgot it at a place that ‘honest’ men/women like you frequent. But that did not mean, you actually ‘had’ to ‘steal’ a small, little gadget worth no more than a thousand rupees!

Now I will have to live with the loss; that of everything crammed into my late Kingston U3 1GB USB Memory Stick. Alas, I have to suffer from frustration and distrust any or all stranger zombies of your kind with everything that is near and dear to me.

And you will not live in peace unless somebody does the same to you what you have done to me. Yeah!

In Memory of my lost (read: stolen) USB Disk

It happened to me last week as I forgot my bag for a night at a centre for educational excellence and had to suffer from the consequences.

What was the last precious thing/gadget that you lost in a crime of this sort??

“January 5, Saturday – 3:50 PM – On my way back from Sargodha to Lahore on the motorway, I saw one of the worst accidents in my life – Near Pindi Bhatian. I could see smoke on the main road from miles away on reaching the spot, there was a car burning in the middle of the road with 2 other cars crushed on the down side of the road. The car burning in the middle of the road had a burnt body besides it totally unattended – there was only a single police car on the spot with no fire-extinguishing apparatus from the scene it was looking that the car was burning for the last 5-10 minutes. The thing that was horrifying was the poor soul burning on the road was absolutely left un-attended. Question: Where was the motorway emergency team even after 10 minutes of the incident ? “

Awaam: Imran Kazmi

Finally, there has been an official announcement by the Parks & Horticulture Society (PHA) of Lahore regarding the festival of Spring celebrations (Jashan-e-Baharan) and Basant.

According to the government department responsible for major events, outdoor decorations and sponsorships, that is PHA, Jashan-e-Baharan will be celebrated from March 01, 2008 to March 31, 2008 while the much awaited festival of kites; Basant will be held on March 16, 2008.

It may sound like any public opinion poll running on TV channels; but it is not! :)
And that’s because we will only be talking about Lahore and problems of the people associated with this city.

‘Awaam Asks’ or ‘Public Asks’ is a series being launched by LMB to include any concerns, questions, complaints, queries that you want to share or ask people in authority and/or the citizens of this city.

Just suggest us an issue or concern using ‘Suggest a Story’ link on main LMB page and don’t forget to include ‘Awaam Asks’ in title of the story.

Happy Complaining! :)

I do not know how many Ex-Lahorees visit LMB, but i wanna ask all the Ex-Lahorees about their memories regarding leaving this city……

*i cudnt make it more simple :)