Smashing 360

All of us know the PTA (Pakistan Telecommunication Authority) has imposed a ban on YouTube® in the country as well as on many explicit websites. But should they be banned? Does PTA have the right to choose what people watch and what they don't? In fact, does ANYONE have the right to impose such control? These are questions we face often enough in this era of cyber communication. Questions that need extensive debating upon and the VoY sought to provide just such a forum for students of the university to raise their voices. According to Hassan Akhtar (runner up), such bans are pointless: there are proxies available online and anyone with a little know-how of such things can easily access blocked content; then again, there is always the question of 'free will' and being able to decide for oneself what has and has not to be done. And it not just the more abstract aspects of the bans that seem wrong, economics and education are deeply affected by such bans too. The

There was a strange calm in the park. The creaking sound from the swings, the chatter of the birds and the splash of water in the fountain all set a rhythm which made her thoughts wonder. The evening sun was retreating in to the western horizon and the huge trees in the park left mighty shadows on the ground. She was sitting on a bench facing towards the road adjacent to the park. The fast cars on the road made her look like a silent spectator of the grand show of life. There were several kids grouped around the concrete slide, waiting for their turn to slide. She was staring at a nest set up high in the Sheesam tree. A bald baby bird was having a 'bird's eye' view of the park and on seeing the baby bird she shifted her gaze towards the slide. She had her eyes only for a dark haired child who was now sliding down the slide. The laugh on the child's face made her smile. Salman was now running towards the bench where his mother Naheed was sitting with a smile

Her hair, tied back by a beautiful red hair band, blew back with the wind like strands of silk as she danced and jumped around. She wore a soft cotton red frock and a pair of white flat soles which her mother had bought recently for her. She ran past me with her friends giggling at some joke that they had cracked; well funny or not every little talk at her age seems funny. It was a normal day, part of my routine (our routine in particular) JB ran past me with her friends as I made my way back home from university. She was a pretty little kid only 8 years old. She moved near my house when she was only 2 years old. I saw her grow old, I got promoted from school to college and then to university as she learnt to talk and walk and made friends. She was as old as my sister so I always felt the same fondness towards her. My sister and I weren't really allowed to play in streets so I always envied JB for she was lucky to have parents that would let her go anywhere with her frie

Hit by a bus Punched in the stomach Bit by a snake. Shot by a gun and then left alone in the slums to die, die a slow painful death. I felt every single misery as I sank deep in pain. I was in a shock! Oppressed by the betrayal! Injustice of what life has done to me; paralyzed me. Remorsed at the truth... a hideous truth of my own fate. AH! Who was I? What ran in my blood? Name? Family? Everything that once was my pride was lost. Indeed I had lost my IDENTITY...! Shreds of my once happy life tore into bits; each to become a puzzle of its own kind. Just five hours ago, I, flashed back my life, was so uncomplicated as I watched the tides rise and fall. Today had been a big day for me for which I had worked hard whole my life .My happiness knew no bounds when I received the official letter stating me as an employee at the Golden Gates; fulfilling my biggest dream. But before I could lavish myself on the big chunk of my success, a phone call blew everything. My parents

 Staying informed is a constant struggle for most of us, let alone people with high-profile, high-pressure jobs. There's usually not time to leisurely read a favorite paper over coffee. Yet catching up on news is an important part of what's  often a very early morning for many of the world's most successful people. Now we would like everyone to read Business Insider in the morning (or the afternoon), but it turns out some very important people have their own favorite sources of news. Warren Buffett starts his days with an assortment of national and local news. The billionaire investor tells CNBC he reads the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, the New York Times, USA Today, the Omaha World-Herald, and the American Banker in the mornings. That's a hefty list to get through.

'We live in the digital age, the age of information'. Such a cliché; not a day goes by when we don't read this sentence in a blog post, a newspaper article, or a simple Tweet. But really, attitudes toward information sharing differ from a place to another. While all of us may want access to information, or in it's more raw form, data, we are not always prepared to be the ones to share it. Institutions in some countries are willing to reach out to a global audience and communicate the knowledge they have gathered over their lifespan: the most famous perhaps being the edX initiative launched by the joint effort of MIT and Harvard University. The Khan Academy is another such online initiative wherein you can, as their website says, 'learn anything for free'.This is 'real' information sharing: sharing lectures, having discussions and even getting your queries clarified all in real-time is a mind boggling concept. And to me, nothing short of a sc

The sun is at its zenith, the shadow of the general is directly beneath his feet. His eyes are focused at the great wall standing between him and the fulfillment of his ambitions. The general is commanding huge numbers and his army is continuously battering the great wall with huge rocks. The infantry is impatiently waiting for the wall to fall and the action to begin. The Great general is Salahudin and the city in front of him is Jerusalem. The Christians inside the wall surrender shortly when they see a huge army at their doorstep. Salahudin prays in the mosque of Aqsa and is gratified at his achievement. After becoming the Sultan of Egypt his ambition was to conquer Jerusalem, he would not let history become a villain in his dream. It did not matter to him what the Christians had done a hundred years ago when they took Jerusalem from the Muslims. The only thing that mattered to him was how to get the city back and he did get it back. My answer to the question posed in

A wedding is the ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of wedding vows by the couple, presentation of a gift (offering, ring(s), symbolic item, flowers, money), and a public proclamation of marriage by an authority figure or leader. Philippines: In Philippines the wedding custom is that the bride cannot meet the groom a day before their wedding. If they do so it means bad luck according to them. There is another belief that siblings cannot get married on the same year because according to them one will meet an accident if they do so. Japan: In Japan bride and groom takes nine sips of sake, then they become husband and wife after the first sip, both of them take a sip at the same time, they are very careful while putting the cup down on the table at the same time. Sindh (Pakistan) : In

It was a stormy night and it had been raining for quite few hours. The ardent gales were rattling the deep silence of would winter nights. Only a few pedestrians could be found out on a night like this. Hard and cold weather always has an impact on human lives but the impact of hard and cold life were imminent in a dark and a drab sort of old house where lived one of the successful men of past named John Rivers. His family had always been peaceful and wonderful. A family of three, a wife and a girl of seven besides himself. He had a good job and all sorts of amenities had embellished his life in spangling colors. But it was some five years ago. Now the time had changed and happiness had gone. He had lived these five years in utter dolorous and despondent. An era of life in which the only relation he could retain was with melancholy, seclusion and pangs. His loving better half had been divorced in some unforeseen circumstances and with the death of his little girl; the fla

Gathering all his courage, he decides to give it one last try…. Imagine a room, dimly lit. A single streak of moonlight peeking through windows thickly covered with curtains of grey velvet. Everything from the glossy furniture to various paintings that hang on the walls speaks of taste and class. All is seemingly still, not a particle wavers, and not a soul wanders. But if we move a bit forward just besides the stately oak bed we see a solitary figure sitting cross legged on the cold marble floor. “Lock the door”, orders a chilly voice. Lazily he gets up, dragging his feet along heavily and bolts the door. As he passes by the wardrobe mirror we catch the glimpse of a boy; young of age, handsome of figure, with raven black hair, skin dark as cocoa, eyes the color of burnt coal, lashes thick and curved. But wait something about him is peculiar maybe the cheeks that lack color? Or his movement that's so slow and measured? And then our eyes fall on his bare arms. Angry red

Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies. It is the most beautiful period of human life, between infancy and youth. It has its own secrets and mysteries. When ice-cream is your first luxury, having lots of happiness wrapped up in it. Sweet childish days, when the colors are brighter, the air is cooler and the morning is more fragrant. If this world is like a garden, children are like roses, tulips and sunflowers in it. Indeed, their laughter is like a melody and their voice is like some bird's song. Sun shines when they smile and the stars don't twinkle when they are sad. They are not to be used and abused. They are love statues and they just need love and care. Innocence, the first word that comes into our mind when we think of a child. Smile, that immediately prevails on our faces when we see a little kid eating chocolate. Their sparkling eyes are enough to make someone happy, at least for a moment. No doubt, the world without children is like a body without s

Green Wallpaper Greenwallpaper.org is the message to keep the environment clean, health and reduce global warming. Heres a huge beautiful collection of green desktop wallpaper, handheld and devices wallpapers on a range of exciting themes in colours. The word is related to the old English word - to grow, used to describe plants, someone jealous or sick/ill. Within some cultures green symbolises hope whilst other times its associated with envy, however the commoniest association is found in nature. These green wallpapers are creative-commons where applicable and are based on many sections such as interesting shapes, famous character, apple images to hot celebrities. Sizes should fit a variety of desktops, from standard to widescreen - so the green wallpaper should fill the display in varied directions. Select the right one, download and set it as your backdrop. The greatest stunning designs will be available for you at the touch of button.