A tribute to Pakistan Air Force

This email was forwarded to me earlier today, thought I should add this in my blog as it is:

RJAF and PAF were flying under a joint command. Flt. Lt. Saiful Azam became the only pilot from the Arab side to have shot down 3 IDF/AF (Israili Airforce) aircraft within 72 hours and also the only pilot to have shot down 3 different aircraft types of the IDF/AF. He was, subsequently, decorated by Jordan, Iraq, Syria and Pakistan.[19]

During the war 16 PAF pilots volunteered to go to the Middle East in order to support Egypt and Syria but by the time they arrived, Egypt had already been pushed into a ceasefire. Syria remained in a state of war against Israel.

On 23 October 1973, PAF pilot Flt. Lt. M. Hatif on deputation to Egyptian Air Force (EAF) was flying a EAF MiG-21 in a defensive combat air patrol (CAP) over Egypt when he was vectored towards an intruding Israeli Air Force (IDF/AF) F-4 Phantom. In the ensuing dogfight, Flt. Lt. M. Hatif shot down the Israeli Phantom. [35]

Eight (8) PAF pilots started flying out of Syrian Airbases; they formed the A-flight of 67 Squadron at Dumayr Airbase. The Pakistani pilots flew Syrian MiG-21 aircraft conducting CAP missions for the Syrians.

On 26 April 1974, PAF pilot Flt. Lt. Sattar Alvi on deputation to No. 67 Squadron, Syrian Air Force (SAF) was flying a SAF MiG-21FL Fishbed (Serial No. 1863) out of Dumayr Air Base, Syria in a two-ship formation with a fellow PAF pilot and the Flight Leader, Sqn. Ldr. Arif Manzoor. The Ground Controller, also a PAF officer, Sqn. Ldr. Salim Metla, vectored the two PAF pilots to a formation of 2 Israeli Air Force Mirage IIICJs and 2 F-4 Phantoms that had intruded into Syrian airspace over the Golan Heights. In the engagement that took place at 1532 hours, Flt. Ltl Sattar Alvi shot down an Israeli Mirage IIICJ using his MiG-21’s R(K)-13 Air-to-Air Missile.

The pilot of the downed Israeli Mirage was Capt. M. Lutz of No. 5 Air Wing, who ejected. The remaining Israeli fighters aborted the mission. The 2 IAF Mirage IIICJs were from Hatzor AFB and the 2 IAF F-4 Phantoms were from No. 1 Air Wing, Ramat David AFB, Israel.[36][37]

Flt. Lt. A. Sattar Alvi became the first Pakistani pilot, during the Yom Kippur War, to shoot down an Israeli Mirage in air combat.He was honored by the Syrian government.[38] Other aerial encounters involved Israeli F-4 Phantoms; Pakistan Air Force did not lose a single pilot or aircraft during this war.

A trip to Peshawar and Tribal Area!

3 weeks back, I planned a trip to Peshawar along with Sohail and Tahir for Billie's wedding, at last he is getting married (I wish him best wishes for a very happy life). I was to be picked up by Sohail and as usual, he was late.. We stayed there in Army mess and later that night attended Billie's Barat, he looked surprisingly smart with traditional Pushtoon turban. :)

Next day, we decided to go for a trip to Peshawar bara market and I will recommend anyone to go there with any fear especially those who're looking for good quality stuff at cheap rates. It's the nearest you can get to smuggled stuff in legal way so if you're there in Peshawar, go to bara and do visit that "sitara market" (it's at the end of bara and just after 100 yards ahead, the tribal belt starts - Jumrod to be specific). I found that market the rich place with so ma ny replicas of almost every thing. I bought few knifes, gazettes and some tools at very reasonable price. I must say the price of these items in Islamabad might be 2 or 3 times. I later went there yesterday with Asghar bhai and Sohail, this time we actually spend good time in bara shopping, there is lot to buy from this place, we're able to identify few good places for different purchases and hopefully going to get much better price from these shopkeepers in next visit.

In last visit, we went to tribal area as well with Tahir's cousin. We didn't get the chance to go far as we have a brave company with us - Sohail.. We entered in Jumrod agency and for first time in my life, I get the opportunity to see Khyber gate (for more information about Khyber pass, visit ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khyber_Pass ) it's a very nice place to visit only if you don't have fear of being kidnapped or tortured to death or eaten alive by pathans ;-). We, being Pakistanis need so much positive publicizing to come back to the stage where foreigners start taking as normal human beings..

In my opinions, Pakhtoons are very honest and brave nation, they've a such a huge pride of being Pakhtoons that one can't even express in right way. They're traditionalist, remarkable hosts, amazing friends, unmatched fighting force and above all loyal to his family which no other in part can be... and I'm sure they must have same feeling for their land too (that's why no one has ever able to ruled them). Tahir cousin took us to the ride and showed us around, everyone there was holding a gun or had it under his shirt. They're brave people and maybe the reason is that they feel they've nothing to lose.. the only thing, they fear to lose is their "pride and self-respect" and that's why they die over dishonor.

In simple, if I've to tell someone to go to tribal area or not... I would say, it's must place to visit but as they say, "while in Rome, do what the Romans do"... so make sure you wear and look like them and don't act like one who disrespect them.

Have a safe journey there.. I'm sure you'll and do share your experience with me.

iPad hits the market: Strong weekend Sales

Apple's iPad is out for sales and as expected breaking the sales estimates, a record sale of over 700,000 pieces by Saturday afternoon, doubling the earlier estimates of Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster as around 300,000 iPads.

That’s a mighty big jump - but it makes sense. The iPad hype machine was in full force leading up to the actual release of the device. For months, there was speculation about what Apple’s newest device category might be. And then, following the official announcement, there was a waiting period that allowed the marketing machine to build up to this past weekend’s actual release. And we’ve seen before that economic conditions don’t really come into play when it comes to Apple’s latest and greatest.

Now, what I'm waiting is for an opportunity of getting hold of this magical device, as Jony Ive, SVP Design at Appl has put it: when something exceed your ability to understand how it works., it sort of become magical.

Note: Source taken from ZDNet blog.

Why a General is more Influential than a Politician

I was reading an article and there was reference of Gen. Kayani (Pakistan Army Chief) as one of the most influential person in 2010, he was rated over US President Barack Obama. I'm personally in favor of a dictator running Pakistan who at least gives us right of speech, expression and justice, at least for the time our nation is educated enough and we've enough swing votes in polls that we, as a nation, can throw anyone out in next elections, if they don't deliver what is promised.

And I'm not sure if this time will ever come in my life-time... So what I've to settle for now? The fact of the matter is, I, along with millions of so-called educated citizens of Pakistan are confused, absolutely confused. Even though we convince ourselves everyday that we've the absolute key for changing fate of this nation (only if I'm giving power to run it)... Ironic, isn't it... So we're not settling less than having everything first in our hands and then we'll share our vision with fellow countrymen.

You know what this proves: this only proofs one thing, we're absolute coward and 3rd-class citizens... and we don't deserve to be calling ourselves 1st-class citizens and that's why, whenever get any chance, we would sell our skins/souls to get painted as 3rd-class citizen of any developed country... Believe me, we can give tons of reason for this as well.

And this is why, a general is still more influential than a politician as he at least he stands for something.

Google entering in DNS Game..

Google aimed to speed up DNS request, as they're joining hands with Neustar UltraDNS to proposed a extension to try to build some geographic awareness into the Domain Name System.

Google and other companies interested in the Internet's addressing system have proposed a technology they hope will get Net users to nearby servers more quickly.

The technology in question is called the Domain Name System, which resolves alphabetical Net addresses such as CNET.com to the numeric addresses actually used to reach the appropriate server. Google's interest in DNS is so strong the company launched its own service in an effort to lower some of the delays that can result when the network equipment most proximate to a Net user doesn't have the numeric address for a particular server immediately on hand.

The move is interesting not just because it has the potential to speed up a very common chore--DNS resolution queries take place many times a day as a person surfs the Web, sends e-mail, and performs other tasks on the Internet. It's also intriguing because it shows Google's desire to gradually re-engineer the Internet, not just provide its own services. The company also is active in developing and promoting a variety of Web standards.

The process of finding the correct numeric address is called DNS resolution, and it can involve a request hopping several steps from server to server trying to find the right answer. The problem is that sometimes by the time the answer is retrieved, it comes from the far side of the planet and gives a geographically inappropriate answer. In general, the farther away a server is, the slower communications with it are.

Think of it as looking up an item's price in Auckland and getting the answer in U.S. dollars instead of New Zealand dollars. Sure, you can do the math to get the local answer, but it's an extra step.

This is where Google and Neustar UltraDNS come in. They proposed a DNS extension Wednesday to try to build some geographic smarts into the system.

Specifically, the proposed extension, called Client IP information in DNS requests, would send along the first three quarters of a user's Internet Protocol (IP) address with the DNS request. The last quarter would be lopped off to preserve some privacy, but the first part should be enough to geographically target the answer in some cases. As designed, it would for example return the address for Google's Dutch server, not Google's California server, to a person in the Netherlands who needs to reach it.

Next up: evaluation of the proposal. "We plan to continue working with all interested parties on implementing this solution and are looking forward to a healthy discussion on the dnsext mailing list," said Google Public DNS team members Wilmer van der Gaast and Carlo Contavalli in a blog post about the proposal .

Note: Source taken from CNET blog.

And Yes, Apple did it again...

Why these Apple guys don't stop impressing me... Recently a new buzz was around especially in tech community that how Apple going to stop Amazon from selling more Kindles (already sold over 2.3 million so far and plan to ship another 4 million for year 2010).

After seeing the new Apple tool - iPad with multi-touch screen, one could easy comment on iPad sale and it's effect on Kindle. I could see the difference in terms of user experience and superior technology which iPad is bringing in this domain. Apple is taking book reading to new level, improving multi-touch accuracy, incorporating back lighting with LED with IPS technology (which is premium display technology), with efficiency up-to 10 hours battery time.

The iPad obviously does more—games, music, email, video and yes books. The iPad is aimed at netbooks and e-readers. As they say, "the best way to experience the web, email, photos, and video. Hands down". You can now access over 140,000 Apps availalbe on AppStore.

In simple, when something exceed your ability to understand how it works, it sort of become magical and that's exactly what the iPad is... (SVP, Design - Apple)

You must see the official iPad video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZJIXI-Nv2g .

Google's showdown with China..

On the surface, Google’s threat to shut down its China operations after a cyberattack on its infrastructure looks like sheer business lunacy. How can the search giant give up on the world’s biggest growth market? It’s easier than you’d think.

First, the background. Google in a long blog post detailed how it suffered a cyberattack that changed the company’s outlook on China. The key points (Techmeme):

• The attack was coordinated and focused on 20 large companies and some appear to be confirming that they were also involved.
• The aim of this attack was to get the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists.
• The attack also focused on U.S., China and Europe-based Gmail accounts that supported human rights in China.
• Google is way public about this attack and its reaction to them.
• Google says it won’t continue to censor search results and may just shut down operations in China.

Reading all of this laid out in a blog post can be summed up in one word: Wow. Now let’s look at how Google arrived at this big decision, which could result in a complete pullout. Why would the Chinese government give a hoot if Google leaves the country? If Google departed, the Chinese government’s chosen champion—Baidu—will lock up all the search share. Baidu already has 63 percent of the Chinese market, according to comScore.

So let’s look at some of the calculus behind Google’s big decision on China.
- Google’s currency is user trust.
- What happens in China can hurt Google’s other businesses.
- Google doesn’t have as much to lose in China–at least today
- There may be a regulatory payoff.
- Google’s threat to leave China may be a bluff.

Note: Source taken from ZDNet blog.