My New Year Resolution for 2021

 Off you go 2020! Quite a year it was, wasn't it? 

It started with the best thing happened to me till date, the journey to the Holy cities of Mecca and Medina, Saudi Arabia, for 'Umrah. It was overwhelmingly wholesome. Alhamdulillaah! [1] I'm yet to document the experience, but I do have the poetry ready, which you will see on the blogs soon.

Then just about a month later, the covid pandemic started and finally the lock-down. Ramazan [2] came and went by, we couldn't offer prayers in the mosques. Eid-ul-fitr was same. So was Eid-ul-Azha. [3] Sad sad times those were. 

It did bring some positive changes too. We had a lot of free time. People actually started working on things they were passionate about. 

Resolutions

First of all, note that making resolution DOES help. 10/10 recommended. It keeps you focused. It gives you a list to work on. It tells you where to concentrate your efforts. 

When you make one, it might not seem realistic at first, even to yourself. Rather, specially to yourself. But the motivation and consistency it provides easily make you more productive than you were before. 

The key is being motivated. They say, around 90% of people who make resolutions drop them by the end of January. You don't want to be one of them. 

2020

Even when a lot of things which were in the resolution of 2020 are still in pending, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I did finish off. 

The only thing I miserably lagged in was "writing" stuff. I put more effort in development and left the actual writing behind. I miss it. 

2021

• Releasing new apps consistently, many of which are in the queue right now, about ready for production
• Hifz (Memorizing Quran)
• Publishing book-reviews on blogs
• Finishing incomplete Novel, Translations, Books/Booklets etc.
• Magazines - Sarbakaf and Personal Bi-Weekly
• Publishing Videos
• Interviews
• Portals Management
• + Resolutions from last year

Last Words

As I'm writing this, the third decade of the 21st century is on the verge of knocking the doors of times - bringing joys and cries, hope and despair, turning the pages of  everyone's destiny. 

I don't know what this new year will bring, but I am nothing but my dreams. I will continue chasing after them.

________

Footnotes

[1] Alhamdulillah - An expression loosely equivalent to "Thank God", used for gratification/achievement. See Alhamdulillah.

[2] Ramazan is considered a holy month, 9th month as per Islamic Hijri calendar, which is observed worldwide as a month of fasting. See Ramadan.

[3] Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Azha are the 2 major Muslim festivals celebrated worldwide.

iPhone Users! Here's a Web App for Qaafiyah Expert

Tldr;

If you are in a hurry, here's the link to Qaafiyah Expert - Web:

• https://q.shakeeb.in/

The Web App and its Journey

Right from the beginning when I launched an android app for Qaafiyah Expert (an app to assist Urdu poets with rhymes, meter, dictionary, diary, designing and much more), people were requesting the same for iPhone users. As I was using the cross-platform approach for the app, building the same thing for iPhone wouldn't have taken so long. But the problem was, apple AppStore's pricing. I couldn't afford it. Well, most of us can't.

Anyway, after some research on pricings, I decided to go for a PWA (Progressive Web App), which is an installable app, but you don't need to pay a single penny to Google or Apple whatsoever. 

It does bring some drawbacks, but there are alternatives for most of the incompatible native-app functionalities. For a naïve user though, PWAs and native Android/ios apps are indistinguishable. For instance:

• Visiting a Progressive Web App asks you to "Add it to Home Screen", which is alternative to "Installing an app"
• It does have an icon, just like a native app
• It can work offline using service workers etc.

This PWA for Qaafiyah Expert had been hosted on my domain 'q.shakeeb.in' for quite a while now, as you can see in the "first commit" here. But some of the features were not working as expected, so I didn't announce it "officially." Now that the android app has been completely rewired, performance is improved and speed is optimized, I decided to use the new code-base, modified it for the web-app and deployed it. iPhone users can now finally use this app.

If you are an android user though, I strongly recommend the android version, which has some cool extra features and obvious UX advantages.

Once again, here's the link to the web-app:

Qaafiyah Expert - Live Demo

Hope this will assist in your poetry-writing journey. 

Rab raakha! 👋

Rekhta Content Scraper by Shakeeb Ahmad | For Programmers Only

Note: This is not yet available for non-programmers. Soon I'll make an easy-to-use version for all, iA.

This scraper with Node.js works for both prose and poetry. Check the GitHub repo for installation instructions.

You would need a text file with all the links you want to download the contents from. To get the list of links, you could manually collect all which interests you, or use the following to scrape all links from an author/poet page.

Bookmarklets - One Click Solution to get the links etc.

Rekhta loads 50 links at a time, and if user scrolls, it adds more content to the DOM. This extra fetch has not been automated in my code yet. (Well I tried, but parsing it wasted so much time that I preferred using manual scroll. Just let the page load, then press "end" on your keyboard. Wait for a moment, it will add all the remaining links.)

Anyway, once you have the complete list on the page, you can use the bookmarklets below to copy all of them with a click.

I've been testing this in browser console for a while now, i.e. open browser console, then paste the script, then change the page text to only what I need, then select and copy them manually. 

Later on I decided to use magic of bookmarklets to automate these tasks I've been doing repeatedly: 

• Copy all the links from the Poet/Author page.
• For LitUrdu specifically, turn them into an "object" with required properties (title, author, link, description, text) and copy it.
• Use the "object" to automatically fill-in text-boxes on new Blogger post.

Ultimate plan is to use Blogger API and post it directly, but this bookmarklet approach doesn't hurt much because most of the things I'm doing are just a click away.

Bookmarklets

Drag and drop the links to the bookmarks bar in your browser. (Ctrl+Shift+b to toggle the bar)

CopyRekhtaLinks

Use on author/poet's page to copy all the links to their enlisted work

CopyRekhta{}

Use on individual poem/story page to copy an object with properties (title, author, link, description, text). Modify as per your needs.

BloggerPaste

Use on a new Blogger post after pasting the "object" from rekhta in console. This will fill in all the required fields in the new post automatically.

Magic of Browser Bookmarks - Automate Simple Tasks using JavaScript

As I promised in #LearnedToday, I'm going to show you how much you can achieve with this little bookmark feature in the browsers.

Ever wondered how to easily remove citations from a Wikipedia page? 

What are bookmarks?

The bookmarks in the browsers are to save the links to the pages you wish to visit again, or you just find them useful and save them for later. 

Instead of creating a text file "Imp Links" and saving all the links there (I've done it a lot), you could use the browser's bookmark feature.

The shortcut to bookmark a webpage in most browsers is ctrl+b.

What more can they do?

To sum up, they can run JavaScript on a page. So instead of opening the browser console to do run a couple lines of code, you could create a bookmark and click that instead.

Example?

Whenever I needed to copy something from Wikipedia, I usually had to deal with the references/citations they have. You must've seen those, with squared brackets around numbers, something like this [1] or with a disclaimer like [citation needed], etc. I needed to remove all those. 

Initially, I used to do it in MS Word manually, by Find and Replace. I don't remember that now, doesn't matter anyway. 

Finally, I came to know about these browser bookmarklets, and then a simple regex was enough to do the work for me.

Now I have a simple bookmark. I go to any Wikipedia page, select the text I need, and click the bookmark. Viola! Citations are removed.

How to create a bookmarklet?

Got to Bookmarks Manager

1. Click three vertical dots in the upper right corner > Bookmark > Bookmark Manager

Or chrome shortcut: ctrl+shift+o

Or type in the address bar: chrome://bookmarks/

2. Click three vertical dots in the upper right corner of Bookmark manager (Shows tooltip: Organize) 

3. Add new bookmark

4. It will show a popup with two fields: Name and URL. 

5. Give any appropriate name, and in the URL bar, paste the JavaScript code you want to execute.

6. Click Save. 

You have your bookmarklet ready. 

Show/Hide Bookmarks bar with ctrl+shift+b. Clicking on the name of your bookmark will run the underlying code. 

Any easier way to do this?

If you don't want to go through all those steps, there's a simple tool called Bookmarkleter. Paste your JS code, it will generate a link that you can drag and drop to the bookmarks bar. 

For example, drag and drop the following link to your bookmarks bar. This will allow you to change fonts on any website. 

Set Font

Which bookmarklets am I using?

1. Citation Remover: Removes citations from a Wikipedia page. Drag&drop this link to the bookmarks bar: Citation Remover
2. Set Font: If a website is using bad font, use this. As I use Urdu a lot, and Urdu without Nastaleeq font looks ugly. So I apply any font to the page available in my system. Payami Nastaleeq is the default one for me.
3. Calci: A tiny calculator which returns results of simple arithmetic operations.
4. StyleStripper: Strips all CSS styles from a webpage. Helpful if I don't want to load an entire page I want to copy something from. Also works on most of the sites which disable copying using JavaScript. Click StyleStripper and you can copy the text. 

Misc. bookmarklets I created

QuoraSkip: Skip Quora-enforced 'login' popup by removing added elements and blur overlay.

To those who requested, don't complain now. (Abuzar :D) I have shared it finally. More such tips will follow. Keep visiting! And I know you will. :wink:

Rab Raakha!

PDF to Single Image - A Tutorial by 17 Year Old Me

Back in the days when I had a small Nokia phone, I wanted to do EVERTHING in that tiny device. It wasn't actually mine but because I was going to college, I was more "in need" of it than my sister.

Source: gsmarena.com [1]

The one on your right with maroon border. That was it.

Anyway, with a screen of 144x160px, I wanted to read PDFs which were stored in our desktop + laptop. Lots of books, of almost all genres I was interested in. Interestingly enough, the same neatly arranged folders are copied over to every computer I have used. So I still have all those books, plus what was added later on.

Initially, the idea to "read PDF on phone" was for the Quran, so that I could read it in the Indo-Pak Naskh font. Actually I had a Quran app in it, full text with super fast search engine, but the font used in that wasn't good enough for long tilaawat. In fact, even after getting android phone I've been searching something as fast as that app. I had been a fan of that guy who built it. Just looked it up, he goes by the name of Raza Mahi. His "Mahi Dictionary" was awesome too. All java .jar applications are things of the past now, but he has also moved on and started to build the similar apps for Android now. Good for him. I've linked his website in the references. [2]

So where was I? Yes. As I had difficulty reading the Quran in that app, I selected a PDF copy of Quran which had Arabic text in one column and its Urdu translation side-by-side. I cropped-out the translation part (making the text narrow enough to fit on my phone) and then started thinking about a way to achieve the result.

Necessity is the mother of invention they say, so I came up with two methods (discussed in the booklet below). Will attach the Quran files too for the record. Wow! Time flies. Seems like yesterday to me.

Later on when I converted many books to 'single image' using the same method, I compiled a short tutorial in the form of a booklet. I've left the whole text as is, without any correction in grammar or sentence structure, because

1. It's a reminder of my journey (read the booklet and see for yourself how writing styles change)
2. It's cute. ;)

Here's the summary of the two methods discussed in the booklet:

Method 1: Microsoft Office OneNote + MS Paint

Method 2: PDF to Images + IrfanView

Read the booklet and know how to use them. And remember it's an OLD tutorial.

DOWNLOADS

PDF to Single Image Tutorial (Booklet) : Read online or download

https://archive.org/details/PDFToSingleImageShakes.Ahmad

IrfanView: I came to know later on that this was very popular image-manipulation tool back then, and still is. Its first release was in June 1996. Now it's more powerful than ever. Check its Wikipedia page.[3]

https://www.irfanview.com

PDF to Images Converter: I still use it. Small size, works smoothly.

https://www.weenysoft.com/free-pdf-to-image-converter.html

Enjoy!

Reference

[1] Specifications of Nokia C1-01 via gsmarena [link]

[2] Raza Mahi Team - Old Apps [link]

[3] IrfanView on Wikipedia [link]

Beginning second half of 2020 — Resolutions?

Yep! That's it. It doesn't stop. 

And sadly enough, the past 4 months we all have been locked up in the lock-down. People like me are in luck, because we don't go out much anyway. Now that we have loads of free time, a lot of my friends planned interesting activities they've been dying to involve in for ages. And guess what? They are actually doing them. I know right?

Anyway! The things I'd planned have really been a mess in my head as always, but writing the resolution actually made me do some work this time. So folks, writing down ideas help. 

Resolutions

Time to see what I did from things I planned in the beginning of this year. 

Maintaining my personal log/diary/rant etc. 

Nope. Never doing that. Because it needs time and I'm busy stuffing my head with new "knowledge" all the time. 😏 It's not a priority anyway. I don't know why I chose this in the first place. 😤

LearnedToday

I started writing this with a hashtag on facebook, and till date I've written 29 of them. In six months, minus 15 days of Umra, It should've been at least a hundred, but anyway. After a long time I did something consistently. And I'm proud of it. 

Weekly – Start posting the stuff I learn every week

Actually a good idea. Did I do something? Nope. Will do? iA. 😁

Sharing – Personal experience + Psychology + Self-help + Philosophy etc.

OK no joking from here. This is actually not on the priority, when I'll be done with the REAL work, I'd start spreading my gyaan. I hope I start it this very year though. 

Works – previous & current (writing+projects)

Red alert. This ranks highest on my priority list. And I'm pretty positive about this with myself. Alhamdulillah! You'll see in the upcoming days.

Tutorials for absolute beginners

Yep, but not unless I find something which has not been done before in the way I'm planning. Have worked on some tutorials actually.

Reading

Finished more than five books of different lenghts. I'm also planning to start writing reviews of them both in English and Urdu. Not quite sure how writing English reviews for Urdu stuff would go. 

Reviewing English stuff in Urdu would be fun. So that ain't going anywhere.

___

That was a little overview. 

Lastly, an exciting news! Urdu Mehfil has completed its 15 years. May Allah keep it alive and make it more beneficial for the Urdu community. 

The birthday celebrations of Urdu Mehfil always push us to contribute. Good for me. 

Rab raakha!👋

Ham Pe Saaqi Ki Inaayat - Ghazal

To read in Urdu (Perso-Arabic script), click here.

English (Roman)

Ham pe saaqee ki inaayat se jale jaate hain

Ye jo ab tak kaf-e-afsos male jaate hain

Yaad aa jaatee hain besaakhta baaten unki

Besabab hont tabassum mein dhale jaate hain

Vaqt-e-rukhsat ki pas-o-pesh unhen kya maaloom

Dil ruka jaata hai jaane se vale jaate hain

Rafta-rafta dam-e-aakheer bhi aa pahunchega

Raat-din vasl ke vaadon pe tale jaate hain

Jaaiye kuchh nahin kehte, jo hua hai so hua

Saare ilzaam muqaddar ke gale jaate hain

Zabt-e-girya men Shakeeb aapne paaya hai kamaal

Unki galiyon se bhi chup-chaap chale jaate hain

Hindi (Devanagari)

हम पे साक़ी की इनायत से जले जाते हैं

ये जो अब तक कफ-ए-अफ़सोस मले जाते हैं

याद आ जाती हैं बेसाख़ता बातें उनकी

बेसबब होंट तबस्सुम में ढले जाते हैं

वक़्त-ए-रुख़सत की पस-ओ-पेश उन्हें क्या मालूम

दिल रुका जाता है जाने से वले जाते हैं

रफ़्ता-रफ़्ता दम-ए-आख़ीर भी आ पहुँचेगा

रात-दिन वस्ल के वादों पे टले जाते हैं

जाईए कुछ नहीं कहते, जो हुआ है सो हुआ

सारे इल्ज़ाम मुक़द्दर के गले जाते हैं

ज़ब्त-ए-गिर्या में शकीब आपने पाया है कमाल

उनकी गलीयों से भी चुप-चाप चले जाते हैं

Meanings

Saaqi (साक़ी): one who serves wine, a sweetheart, शराब पिलाने वाला , यानी मेहबूब 

Inaayat (इनायत): blessings, करम, नवाज़ना 

Kaf-e-afsos malna (कफ-ए-अफ़सोस मलना): hand wrung in distress, अफ़सोस करते हुए हथेलियों को मलना 

Be-saakhta (बे-साख़्ता): spontaneously, extempore, अचानक, सहसा

Be-sabab (बेसबब): without any reason, बे वजह 

Tabassum (तबस्सुम):  smile, मुस्कुराहट

Pas-o-pesh (पस-ओ-पेश): hesitation, indecision, आगे पीछे होना, झिजक, हिचकिचाहट 

Vale (वले): yet, however, लेकिन 

Vasl (वस्ल): union, meeting,मिलन

Zabt-e-Girya (ज़ब्त-ए-गिर्या): holding back tears, रोने पर क़ाबू पाना, आँसू ना निकलने देना 

[Hindi] Ham aur Ehsaas-e-bechaargi (on suicide of Sushan Singh Rajput)

हम और एहसास-ए-बेचारगी

(सुशानत सिंह राजपूत (अदाकार) की 34 साल की उम्र में ख़ुदकुशी पर)

Note: Consider this a rant or monologue by someone who's frustrated. 

मुझे हैरत इस बात पर है कि क्या हम वाक़ई इतने कमज़ोर हैं कि ज़िंदगी की कशाकश से यूं हार मान जाएं? हम इतने ही बेवक़ूफ़ हैं कि अपने अतराफ़ के लोगों को , उनकी बातों को आसाब पर इस क़दर सवार कर लें कि अपना जीना हराम हो जाये?

ऐवें ही इधर उधर की गप्पें और बकवासों में वक़्त ज़ाए कर लें, लोगों की बातें सन सुनकर अपना दिमाग़ ख़राब कर लें और फिर डिप्रेशन की गोलीयां खाईं। वाह बड़े अक़लमंद हैं आप। 

अजी छुट्टी करें। लानत भेजें उन लोगों पर जो आपको कचरे की तरह इस्तिमाल करते हैं। और नज़रअंदाज कीजीए उनको जो आपके लिए बेहूदा आरा रखते हैं। क्या मुसीबत है आपकी ज़िंदगी में? आप फुट -पाथ पर सोते हैं? भुकमरी से जूझ रहे हैं? फ़ाक़े कर रहे हैं? किसी की मोहताजी है?

फिर किया?

किसी ने गाली दी? तंज़ किया? ग़ीबत की? चुगु़ली की? मुँह पर बेइज़्ज़ती की? किसी आदत का मज़ाक़ उड़ाया?

बस एक-बार देख लें, क्या आप में वो ख़साइल मौजूद हैं? और वाक़ई ऐसी चीज़ें हैं जिन्हें बुरा शुमार किया जाना चाहिए? हैं तो शुक्रिया के साथ क़बूल करें। उनका लहजा कितना ही बुरा सही, उन्होंने आपका फ़ायदा ही किया है। फ़ायदा उठाइए।

और अगर आप में वो आदतें वो ख़साइल मौजूद नहीं तो आपकी सेहत पर किया फ़र्क़ पड़ा? कुछ भी नहीं।

जनाब-ए-मन!

भाड़ समझते हैं? जी हाँ। सबको वहीं झोंकिए और अपनी ज़िंदगी जीनी शुरू कीजीए। अपने लोग और अपनी ख़ुशी वाली ज़िंदगी। क्योंकि जो लोग आपको उजाड़ने में शरीक होंगे वो आपके मरने के बाद आप पर नौहा नहीं करेंगे, बल्कि किसी दूसरे को उजाड़ने में मसरूफ़ होंगे।

ख़ुदारा इन बेवक़ूफ़ों को तवज्जा देकर अपना वक़्त बर्बाद मत कीजीए।मुस्कुरा कर टालीए और हाथ झाड़कर आगे चल पड़िए।

आपके लिए तो दुनिया में बहुत काम हैं, आपने तो अभी नई नई पेंटिंग सीखनी शुरू की है, ख़त्ताती पर हाथ आज़माने हैं, गाने का शौक़ पूरा करना है, तैराकी सीखनी है, वो कराटे की क्लास कब से ज्वाइन करने का सोच रखा है, कुछ अमल भी करेंगे या बस अरतग़रल देख देखकर ख़ुद में जोश ही भरते रहेंगे? वो तीन अधूरे नावल और सीरत उन्नबी वाली किताब पढ़नी शुरू की थी, वो कब ख़त्म होगी

प्रोग्रामिंग सीखने का सोचा था उस का क्या बना? यू-टयूब चैनल बनाने का शौक़ था वो बन चुका? फ़ुलां अंग्रेज़ी किताब का तर्जुमा करने का सोचा था, कर चुके? कुरानी अरबी सीखने का इरादा था, आज ही से ना शुरू कर दें? हिफ़्ज़ कर के अपने वालदैन की आँखें ठंडी करनी थीं, एक-बार भी कोशिश नहीं की? किसी ग़ैर मुस्लिम दोस्त ने इस्लाम के मुताल्लिक़ पूछा था, लेकिन आपने दावत देनी तो कभी सीखी ही नहीं। याद है कितना शर्मिंदा हुए थे। क्यों ना ये भी सीख लिया जाये? पता नहीं कौन कब ऐसे ही अचानक ज़िंदगी से किनारा कर ले और हम अमानत ना पहुंचा सकें? तफ़सीर का प्रोग्राम देखकर पहली बार अल्लाह के कलाम को समझने की कोशिश की थी, पूरी कर लो तो कोई गर्दन से दबोच लेगा कि क्यों मुकम्मल कर ली? दिन-भर वाट्स एप्प फेसबुक पर-अलम ग़लिम पढ़ते हैं, फ़ज्र बाद पाओ पारा क़ुरआन ही पढ़ लें तो क्या बुरा हो। 

सुबह जॉगिंग पर जाना शुरू किया था तो ख़त्म क्यों हो गया? और वो वरज़िश क्यों छोड़ दी? लोग देखते थे तो शरम आती थी, लेकिन अब लोगों की पर्वा करना तो आप छोड़ चुके, तो शुरू करें? ज़माना हो गया , दोस्तों के साथ आख़िरी दफ़ा फूटबाल खेले हुए। चलें कोई तर्तीब बनाई जाये। अरसा गुज़रा कि आपने वो पसंदीदा आइसक्रीम नहीं खाई। ले आएं दो एक स्पून। ज़रा देखना तो वो चाट सैंटर खुल रहा है या नहीं, भाग कर दो कचौरियां बंधवा लाएंगे। बल्कि घर भर के लिए लेते लाएंगे, सिर्फ आप ही थोड़े ही चटोरे हैं। 

अपने आस-पास देख लें। अपनी फ़ैमिली में, आपके हल्क़ा-ए-अहबाब में। कोई बेसकून है तो इस को सुकून दीजीए। कोई गम-ज़दा है तो उसे हंसाईए। लोगों को मुस्कुराहट दीजीए। सवाब की नीयत ही कर लें, दूसरों को ख़ुशी बाँटना सवाब का काम है। यक़ीन नहीं आता तो मुहल्ले के मुफ़्ती साहिब से पूछ लें। 

अच्छा इस सब का फ़ायदा? सादा सा उसूल है बेचारे तब्लीग़ियों का, आप जिस चीज़ की दावत देंगे वो आपके अंदर पैदा होगी। आप भी सुकून में रहेंगे। आप भी ग़म को मुस्कुरा कर झेलने का हुनर सीख जाऐंगे। और आप भी दुनिया को शाकी नज़रों से देखने की बजाय तशक्कुर के साथ देखने लगेंगे। 

और हाँ रोने का मन कर रहा है तो रो लीजीए। इस में क्या दिक़्क़त है। रोना तो अज़हद ज़रूरी है, आप कोई रोबोट तो हैं नहीं। लेकिन ये भी समझिए कि ज़िंदगी वहीं नहीं रुक जाती। वक़्त चलता रहता है, उसे आप रोकने की कोशिश करेंगे तो रुल जाऐंगे। इस के साथ चलीए। 

माज़ी को अच्छी और बुरी यादों से नहीं, सिर्फ नास्टलजया से ताबीर कीजीए। 

हाल को जिएँ, कि यही सब कुछ है जो आपके पास है। 

और मुस्तक़बिल का सामान तैयार रखीए, पता नहीं कब बोरिया बिस्तर बांध कर जाना पड़ जाये। 

शकीब अहमद

14 जून2020، 7:30 बजे शाम

Cicada 3301 - A Mystery in the Cyber World

How I came across this?

So the year was 2017 I suppose, I was newly introduced to the dark web, and started watching creepy-pastas spread over the internet. It was interesting. Fascinating yet controversial. 

That's what makes it go viral, doesn't it? We all love conspiracies.

Considering my history of watching those videos, the YouTube suggestion algorithm one day decided to show me a video by LEMMiNO titled "Cicada 3301: An Internet Mystery" [link below]. And that short video introduced almost all concepts I'd studied in Cyber Security.

Let me appreciate that guys editing skills first of all.What a lovely piece of craft, indeed! 

When I watched the video, the curiosity made me search for more details related to it. I visited the Reddit threads related to it myself and the related onion links too. (Taken down, of course.)

Here's a small introduction of what this mystery was, thanks to Wiki, Reddit and several other resources. 

What’s Cicada 3301?

The most elaborate and mysterious puzzle of the internet age. — The Washington Post

Cicada 3301 is a nickname given to an organization that on three occasions has posted a group of puzzles to recruit code-breakers from the internet.

Different Rounds

The puzzle had few rounds. Nobody from the public knew that the next round exists, let alone guess it's date or format. It was because there was no official (signed message) from Cicada.

1. The first internet puzzle started on January 4, 2012 on 4chan and ran for about one month.
2. A second round began one year afterward January 4, 2013.
3. And then a third round following the confirmation of a fresh clue posted on Twitter on January 4, 2014.

The stated intent was to recruit “intelligent individuals” by presenting a series of puzzles which were to be solved.

No new puzzles were published on January 4, 2015. However, a new clue was posted on Twitter on January 5, 2016. In April 2017 a verified PGP-signed message was found:

Beware false paths. Always verify PGP signature from 7A35090F.

That message explicitly denies the validity of any unsigned puzzle, as recently as April 2017.
The puzzles focused heavily on:

• data security
• cryptography
• steganography
• internet anonymity
• surveillance

Speculations

It has been called “the most elaborate and mysterious puzzle of the web age” and is listed as one of the “top 5 eeriest, unsolved mysteries of the internet”, and much speculation exists on its function.
Many have speculated that the puzzles are a recruitment tool for the NSA, CIA, MI6, a “Masonic conspiracy” or a cyber mercenary group. Others have claimed Cicada 3301 is an alternate reality game.

No company or individual has taken credit for it or attempted to monetize it, however.

The Cicada 3301 Puzzle

Before diving into the main points, let me clear what it’s on the very surface level. It’s a puzzle which is posted on the web with the intentions of recruiting “highly intelligent individuals”.

Solving which supposedly gets you recruited to the NSA, MI6, Hacker groups and therefore the speculations go on and on; although no official prize has ever been announced.

It all started on January 4th, 2012. An elaborate puzzle appeared on message boards and forums which read:

This image when opened using a text editor gives out a Caesar cipher string of semi-readable text, which when deciphered results in an Image URI.

The chase then continued, one clue leading to another. The puzzles used all sorts of techniques in cyber-security including cryptography, steganography etc. They even dropped some clues on physical addresses.

Finally the website closed with a line saying

“We want the best, not the followers”. 

Soon there was a month of silence and then this Image was posted on the sub-reddit on Cicada.

According the Cicada they have found the people they were looking for. But the community out there was not satisfied because of the lack of ending to what was this all about. And many termed it as a wild goose chase and waste of time

But little did we know, this was just the beginning. After an year another quiz dropped on the forum.

The second and third round went similarly. A detailed analysis can be watched in this video.

. . .

by
Shakeeb Ahmad
Abuzar Gaffari
Ashwini Ghonse
Mustafa Al-Hammadi

[This is a truncated version of a 10-page long blog submitted to the institution.]

Shakeeb Naam Ka Ik Bad-Tameez Hai Koi - Ghazal

To read in Urdu (Perso-Arabic script), click here.

English (Roman)

Hareem-e-naaz men har-dil-azeez hai koi

Ziyaad-e-rashk se phir ashk-reez hai koi

Abas hi rote hain ahbaab mere marne par

Visaal-e-yaar bhi rone ki cheez hai koi

Libaas-e-faakhera pehne ye khush-numa dunya

Baraa-e-ahl-e-tasawwuf kaneez hai koi

Tere jamaal ki taabaaniyon se raushan ho

Hamaare dil pe jo parda dabeez hai koi

Diwana waar pukaare hai jo tujhe shab-o-roz

Shakeeb naam ka ik bad-tameez hai koi

Hindi (Devanagari)

हरीम-ए-नाज़ में हर-दिल-अज़ीज़ है कोई

ज़ियाद-ए-रशक से फिर अश्क-रीज़ है कोई

अबस ही रोते हैं अहबाब मेरे मरने पर

विसाल-ए-यार भी रोने की चीज़ है कोई

लिबास-ए-फ़ाखिरा पहने ये ख़ुशनुमा दुनिया

बराए अहल-ए-तसव्वुफ़ कनीज़ है कोई

तिरे जमाल की ताबानियों से रोशन हो

हमारे दिल पे जो पर्दा दबीज़ है कोई

दिवाना वार पुकारे है जो तुझे शब-ओ-रोज़

शकीब नाम का इक बदतमीज़ है कोई

Meanings

Hareem-e-naaz (हरीम-ए-नाज़): abode of beloved, महबूब का घर

Har-dil-azeez (हर-दिल-अज़ीज़): popular, liked by all, मशहूर, सब में पसंद किया जाने वाला

Ziyaad-e-rashk (ज़ियाद-ए-रशक): excess of envy, ईष्रया का ज़्यादा होना

Ashk-reez (अश्क-रीज़): weeping, shedding tears, अश्रु वर्षा, आँसू बहाना
Abas (अबस): futile, profitless, purposeless, व्यर्थ, निरर्थक, बेकार, बेफ़ायदा, बेकार
Visaal-e-yaar (विसाल-ए-यार): meeting with friend, meeting with beloved, महबूब से मुलाक़ात

Libaas-e-faakhera (लिबास-ए-फ़ाख़िरा): precious garments, worth being proud of, क़ीमती कपडा

Dabeez (दबीज़): thick, strong, मोटा, गफ़
Shab-o-roz (शब-ओ-रोज़): night and day, always, all the time, सुबह शाम, हमेशा

LTE - Types, Features and Working

WHAT IS IT?

Assuming this is a new term for you and you have no idea what this is, “what on earth does this mean” is the first thing you should ask. Let’s know the full form first. LTE stands for Long-Term Evolution.
Ok. But evolution of what? I don’t know either. According to sources, this naming conventions were a part of advertising the technology and appeal to the customer base. Alright, enough of the intro, let’s know it’s simple explanation borrowed from Wikipedia:
Long-Term Evolution (LTE) is a standard for wireless broadband communication for mobile devices and data terminals.
You still don’t get it, did you? Remember 2G and 3G technologies? This LTE is the next stone in that journey. So the architecture was purely ased on the 3G technology by UMTS. Much of the LTE standard addresses the upgrading of 3G UMTS to what will eventually be 4G.
What’s the major difference between LTE and the third generation (3G)? Well, a large amount of the work is aimed at simplifying the architecture of the system. But is it 4G? We’ll discuss this in the end of this blog. For now, let’s jump to its classification.

TYPES

There are basically 2 mobile data transmission technologies based on 2 major factors, viz:
• How data is uploaded and downloaded
• What frequency spectra the networks are deployed in
So, based on these two factors, we have two types of LTE.
1. Long-Term Evolution Time-Division Duplex (LTE-TDD)
2. Long-Term Evolution Frequency-Division Duplex (LTE-FDD)
Before proceeding with this, let’s know some basics of GSM and CDMA so that you know what these “divisions” are. Afterwards, you’ll be able to digest this easily.

GSM, CDMA and LTE

GSM and CDMA are two different ways to accomplish the two things. LTE is newer.
The way GSM solves (1) is by something called TDMA (time division multiple access). When you're in a phone call, you're phone is scheduled a bunch of time slots when your phone either sends or receives data. These exclusive to your phone and different from other phones in the cell so there's no interference. This way, multiple phones can talk to the cell tower (seemingly) at once (the bursts of time are super short so you don't notice them).
CDMA deals with (1) in a completely different way. It breaks up the channel into codes/signals (Code division random access). This is a little hard to explain without some math, but there's a notion called orthogonality. If two signals are orthogonal you can pull one signal out without getting interference from the other. Every user is assigned a different code/signal and these are (approximately) orthogonal to each other. This is a more advanced technique and generally thought of as advantageous since there isn't as much waste (TDMA needs little bits of extra time between users to make sure there's no overlap, for example).
The way (2) is accomplished is also very different. In fact there are many different ways it is done even within GSM or CDMA. The way data is sent along depends a lot on how good the quality of the radio signal and other factors. That's a whole other thing. But the options for GSM and CDMA differ.
3G and 4G are kind of marketing terms that come from "3rd generation" and "4th generation". They refer to families of standards, but not specific methods to accomplish (1) or (2).
Now you know the basics, let’s get back to types of LTE.

LTE-TDD and LTE-FDD

LTE-TDD Uses a single frequency, alternating between uploading and downloading data through time while LTE-FDD paired frequencies to upload and download data.
Despite the differences in how the two types of LTE handle data transmission., LTE-TDD and LTE-FDD share 90 percent of their core technology. This makes it possible for the same chipsets and networks to use both versions of LTE.
Several companies produce dual-mode chips or mobile devices, including Samsung and Qualcomm.

FEATURES

• Peak download rates up to 299.6 Mbit/s and upload rates up to 75.4 Mbit/s
• Cost effective
• Low data transfer latencies
• Lower latencies for handover and connection setup time 
• Higher network throughput
• Improved support for mobility, exemplified by support for terminals moving at up to 350 km/h
• Orthogonal frequency-division multiple access for the downlink, Single-carrier FDMA for the uplink to conserve power
• Support for inter-operation and co-existence with legacy standards (GSM/GPRS or W-CDMA-based UMTS )
• Uplink and downlink Carrier aggregation.
• Packet-switched radio interface
• It’s because of these features that most carriers supporting GSM networks can be expected to upgrade their networks to LTE at some stage

MADE OF?

What is LET made of? That means it’s working backbone consists of these things, most of which we have already discussed above. For the concepts you might not find familiar, I’ve attached link to resources so that you can have an idea of what they are.
• OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) for Downlink
• SC-FDMA (Single Carrier FDMA) for Uplink
• MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output)
• E-UTRAN (for Network)

VOICE CALLS IN LTE

One of the major problems they faced designing LTE was how to handle voice calls using it. LTE was primarily meant for (internet) data transfer, so the transfer of voice data to integrate with telecom operators was an issue.
With the adoption of LTE, carriers had to re-engineer their voice call network. The reason behind this was that the LTE standard supports only packet switching with its all-IP network. On the other hand, voice calls in GSM, UMTS and CDMA2000 are circuit switched.
3 different approaches sprang up to handle this:

1] Voice over LTE (VoLTE)

VoLTE networks support both voice and data at the same time, without hampering the other. Whereas, the traditional LTE networks may or may not support data and voice together, or may affect the quality of the voice call

2] Circuit-Switched Fallback (CSFB)

LTE just provides data services. When voice call is to be made, it will fall back to the circuit-switched domain.
Advantage: Operators can provide services quickly.
Disadvantage: Requires longer call setup delay.

3] Simultaneous Voice and LTE (SVLTE)

Handset works simultaneously in the LTE and circuit switched modes.
LTE mode providing data services and the circuit switched mode providing the voice service. This is a solution solely based on the handset, which does not have special requirements on the network.
Disadvantage: The phone can become expensive with high power consumption.

IS IT 4G?

Now the controversy (not a big one, I know… but still, it is there.)
Contrary to popular belief, LTE at the current stage was not always considered 4G. ITU (International Telecommunication Union) determines what can be considered 4G and they initially had defined all the standards which a technology had to meet. LTE couldn’t meet those requirements.
Therefore, LTE is popularly known as 3.95G.
LTE-Advanced did make the cut through. But the business and telecom operators had allegedly “influenced” the ITU to update their standards so that they can advertise their services as 4G to attract users.
As a result, there is a slight disagreement between the businesspeople and technophiles on definition of 4G. technophiles consider the original ITU guidelines as a standard for 4G.

CONCLUSION

To solve “How to get many people to share a piece of spectrum”, LTE uses OFDMA which increases throughput
Hope you get at least the gist of what’s been explained in this blog. If not, jump over to the pages linked in the article or post comment if you are reading this on ShakesVision.

SHAKEEB AHMAD
April 05, 2020

#LearnedToday 11 to 20

This episode includes following tags:

Biology (1), Computer-Science (1), English (1), GK (1), Help (1), Language (1), Literature (1), Opinion (5), Philosophy (2), Programming (1), Psychology (3), Reform (1), Self (1), Self-Help (1), Theology (2)

I learn a lot of things every day, about diverse topics. Will write these things daily, even if it's obvious-to-the-level-of-dumb for the world.
— Shakeeb Ahmad, from My New Year Resolution

#LearnedToday 11

Without reading anything on God, I had this argument in mind. Most importantly, it... feels... right. And, I still haven't found a counter for this.
The "unmoved mover", argument 1 of 5 by Aquinas for the existence of what we call God, is the most natural thought a human mind can have. Still, when I ask atheists every atheist about their opinion on this, each of them simply answered, "I don't know."
The"motion" here can actually be generalized as "change". So for every change, there's a cause and the chain goes on... but not infinitely. (See "Infinite Regression")
I personally think that being agnostic (I don't know) is good and humble, that's why most soft atheists choose to be that, but sometimes I feel they do it just to avoid the question.

Terms: Summa Theologica, Existence of God, Aquinas's five ways, unmoved mover Aristotle
Ref: Wiki

Tags: Theology, Opinion

#LearnedToday 12 

Peace of Mind

When you've got that analytical skill to run psychological analysis of what's around you and know what tricks people are trying to play with you, you have a definite peace of mind. [ NOT because now you know them and can take revenge. ]
Do their actions/intentions bother me? Maybe. But most of the time, those little acts of selfish nature bring smile on my face. Not a derogatory one, Wallahil Azeem, but for their innocence. الحمد للّٰہ علی ذلک۔
Only if they knew what this world is worth.

Tags: Philosophy, Opinion, Psychology

#LearnedToday 13 

I'd always considered "Jack of all trades and the master of none" as a negative phrase. That's not true. (With a vast range of interests, I often complain that I'm not doing justice to any of them. That's when I use this comment for myself.)
Luckily, I stumbled upon the Wikipedia page of this figure of speech, and I quote:
The full phrase is "Jack of all trades, master of none is often times better than a master of one."
The shortened version "a jack of all trades" is often a compliment for a person who is good at fixing things, and has a very good broad knowledge.
So, it is actually a complement. The "master of none" part makes it a little unflattering though.

Tags: Literature, English Language

#LearnedToday 14 

After 6-7 years, there are people who are still fighting over the same issues which rarely affect our lives, worldly or spiritual.
I wonder how many years would it take for them to realize what other chores they are leaving behind which are far more important, for them. For the humanity.
And when you try to tell them to move on, they stubbornly try to drag you in the same fight you'd left years ago.
Then you realize why Allah said this:
“And when the ignorant address them [harshly], they say [words of] peace.” (Al Quran - 25:63)

Tags: Theology, Opinion

#LearnedToday 15 

Just saw a TEDx talk on how schools are making kids less intelligent.
Have recently discussed this with my sister (or some friend, can't remember), that the
Inspect yourself now. Whatever you've learned, how much was the schools'/college's contribution in that?
Not saying they don't play any role, but I'm more of the idea that rather than grades, the system should be classified based on students' tendencies, skills and natural inclination. More on this in a blog post some time.

Ref: https://youtu.be/2Yt6raj-S1M and its comments

Tags: Opinion, Reform

#LearnedToday 16 

Logging the data in the console for debugging is quick and easy, and that's what you must be using too. But what do you do? console.log("output") like me?
There are a lot more you can do with console. Some of them are
console.log({var1, var2}); //Adds labels
console.table([var1, var2]); //Displays as table
console.time() and console.timeLog(); //Gives time between two console logs
I'll be using the first one definitely. Had to manually add labels everytime.

Tags: Computer Science, Programming

#LearnedToday 17 

Chanakya- an ancient Indian guru, philosopher
وہ لوگ جو کمائی سے زیادہ خرچتے ہیں، اپنے سے زیادہ طاقتور سے پنگا لے بیٹھتے ہیں اور جو عورتوں سے بہت بات کرتے ہیں ( ان میں گھرے رہنا پسند کرتے ہیں، فلرٹ کرتے ہیں)، انہیں تباہی سے کوئی نہیں بچا سکتا۔
- چانکیہ
Wo log jo kamaai se zyada kharchte hain, apne se zyada taqatwar se panga le baitthte hain, aur aurton se bahot baat karte hain, unmen ghira rehna pasand karte hain (flirting) unhen tabaahi se koi nahin bacha sakta.
- Chanakya
The last point. It's specifically targeted towards men, and there's a reason for that. They are men who loose their mind talking to women, while women usually stay normal.
All of us have seen someone who ruined/ is ruining their life after this.

Ishq ne Ghalib nikamma kar diya,

Warna ham bhi aadmi the kaam ke

Tags: Philosophy

#LearnedToday 18 

There's a trait of close friends -
“We can be with them without talking.”
That rarely happens with close friends, I know. But still, when you're with a new friend / stranger, you have a sort of responsibility to keep the conversation flowing. Nod your head nonstop mechanically, listen to completely irrelevant or redundantly told stories, just to be a part of conversation, somehow. Because if there's silence, it would be "awkward silence".
There are no awkward silences with friends.

Tags: Opinion, Self Help, Psychology

#LearnedToday 19 

Have to read this book now.
"Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini"

6 Principles of Persuasion

Reciprocity: Simply put, people are obliged to give back to others the form of a behavior, gift, or service that they have received first.

Scarcity: Simply put, people want more of those things they can have less of.

Authority: This is the idea that people follow the lead of credible, knowledgeable experts. What the science is telling us is that it’s important to signal to others what makes you a credible, knowledgeable authority before you make your influence attempt. Of course this can present problems; you can hardly go around telling potential customers how brilliant you are, but you can certainly arrange for someone to do it for you.

Consistency: People like to be consistent with the things they have previously said or done.

Liking: People prefer to say yes to those that they like.
But what causes one person to like another? Persuasion science tells us that there are three important factors. We like people who are similar to us, we like people who pay us compliments, and we like people who cooperate with us towards mutual goals.

Consensus: Especially when they are uncertain, people will look to the actions and behaviors of others to determine their e.g: Cards, signs which suggests something. We do that.

Ref: https://www.influenceatwork.com/principles-of-persuasion/

Tags: Psychology, Self Help

#LearnedToday 20 

The tear glands in our eyes are connected to the nostrils internally. So that water coming out of your nose while crying is not snot. That's mainly tears. 😁

Ref: https://youtu.be/egEraZP9yXQ

Tags: GK, Biology

Qaafiyah Expert (Android) - Release

Links:

• Download the app From Playstore
• Read Urdu version here
• Facebook page (to get updates regarding my new work)
• Help PDF file (How to use this tool)

Qaafiyah Expert is a simple tool which contains

1.  A rhyme generator, with support of diacritics, filter for Urdu poetic meters and 3 scripts for search. Works offline.
2.  A lightweight diary with offline "save" support.
3.  An online portal for awesome literary posts, updated periodically.

For those who were waiting for this

Why did it take so long?

Like always, I'd list many reasons (excuses?)

1. God's wish.
2. Learning android development takes some time.
3. The basic structure had been completed in September 2019, which I had had on my mobile phone. I used to suggest qawaafi to people asking for them using the tool. But I wasn't satisfied. At the time of Windows software version (in 2016) I was new in the programming world. Not a pro now either, but whatever I've learned in these years, I thought to improve at least few things in it and add few features of my own interest. So, the app has seen many phases before being released to the public. The basic version had the same options I'd put in Windows app.

Now, those who used to constantly poke me via email or social media to provide the basic version at least, may say unspeakable things to me; but as I've said many times:

I have a constant urge to present the things in the best way possible.

So I delayed it. Although I've recently read in a gyaani's article that this bug of perfectionism should be killed ASAP.

One more reason for releasing it late is that nobody likes to update the app too many times. So, changing few things and releasing an update would do no good. And Google PlayStore, MashaAllah, bombards you with questions in every release, making it further difficult.

Requests

The app is still in the dev mode, so if you find any bug or want something to be included in the next version, please leave a review. If the response is good, I'll try to roll out next release soon.

Few features in upcoming versions

• App interface language switch, for those who don't know Urdu script (Complete Internationalization)
• Meanings and thesaurus on word-click
• Taqti (Poetic Meter calculation)
• Poetry workshop

I've two requests for you. First, to report bugs if you find any and if you want any other feature to be included in this app (other than the 4 mentioned above) then comment on the Play Store's rating page.

Second, If you have an idea for a new app, go to "online" section of this app and submit your idea on "Ek app aisi bhi."

I've few app ideas of my own interest, have to finish them too. Remember me in your supplications. 

Shakeeb Ahmad

February 16, 2020

Telegram: ShakesVision

#LearnedToday 1 to 10

I learn a lot of things every day, about diverse topics. Will write these things daily, even if it's obvious-to-the-level-of-dumb for the world. 
— Shakeeb Ahmad, from My New Year Resolution

LearnedToday #1

An operation as simple as copying the data to user's clipboard is not that straightforward. It requires a secure origin — either HTTPS or localhost (or disabled by running Chrome with a flag). [SO]

Packages are available for most frameworks out there, which handle clipboard operations (copy to and paste from). Can be used to exploit though. [Wiki]

Terms: Clipboard hijacking, Pastejacking
tags: Computer Science, Cyber Security

LearnedToday #2

• Nothing matters until you finish some actual projects in a field. What you can mention on your resume (and to the world) is NOT a load of languages, frameworks and skills you only know the basics of; but the completed projects using them. 
• Switch to other stuff after fulfilling basic functionalities. Fine-tuning can be done in updates.
• Do your best before jumping to Stack Overflow.

Ref: https://youtu.be/YX9T4V22j-Y and its comments.
tags: Self Help, Computer Science

LearnedToday #3

حالیہ جاری احتجاجی مظاہروں میں فیض کی نظم”ہم دیکھیں گے “ کافی مشہور ہوئی ہے۔ درست موقف کی بحث ایک طرف، سر پیٹنے والی بات یہ ہے کہ کچھ بے ذوق لوگوں کی طرف سے مذکورہ نظم کو ”فرقہ وارانہ “ قرار دیا گیا ہے۔ 

لگتا یوں ہے کہ صنائع و بدائع، کنایے، محاوروں، ضرب الامثال اور استعاروں سے مزین میر اور غالب کی شاعری پر سر دھننے والی یہ ”جینیس جنریشن“ دراصل ڈھونگی ہے اور ان اساتذہ کو محض ”کول“ لگنے کے لیے پڑھتی اور سنتی ہے۔

بحیثیت ایک ادنیٰ شاعر اور ادب کے طالب علم کے، میں غور کرنے پر مجبور ہوں کہ شاعری کا اتنا سطحی مطالعہ کرنے والوں کے لیے کیا سزا تجویز کی جائے؟

हालिया जारी एहितजाजी मुज़ाहिरों में फ़ैज़ की नज़म"हम देखेंगे" काफ़ी मशहूर हुई है। दरुस्त मौक़िफ़ की बेहस एक तरफ़, सर पीटने वाली बात ये है कि कुछ बेज़ौक़ लोगों की तरफ़ से मज़कूरा नज़म को फ़िर्कावाराना क़रार दिया गया है.

लगता यूं है कह सनाए-ओ-बदाए, कनाए, मुहावरों, ज़रबुल अमसाल और इस्तिआरों से मुज़य्यन मीर और ग़ालिब की शायरी पर सर धुनने वाली ये "जीनीयस जनरेशन" दरअसल ढोंगी है और उन असातिज़ा को महिज़ "कूल" लगने के लिए पढ़ती और सुनती है.

बहैसीयत एक अदना शायर और अदब के तालिब-इल्म के, में ग़ौर करने पर मजबूर हूँ कि शायरी का इतना सतही मुताला करने वालों के लिए किया सज़ा तजवीज़ की जाये!

Ref: Javed Akhtar, Munawwar Rana etc. on IIT's case

tags: Politics, Thoughts

LearnedToday #4

Learning regex is a better option to go for, rather than mastering language-specific methods for simple string manipulation.

Also, on a more general note: Instead of forcibly modifying every problem to meet your knowledge-level, you should try to learn available methods (i.e. functions) and data types in a language.

tags: Computer Science, Programming

LearnedToday #5

YouTube is sucking a lot of our time right now. Like a lot a lot. Even if it is for the sake of entertainment, we're using it no less than 4 hours. Physical entertainment seems a thing of the past now. Even when we meet friends, the conversation revolves around the same. Sad!

Told this to Muzammil and Mubashir many times, that we scroll through useless feeds all day. If we start reading books instead, we'd have a sense of accomplishment. A feeling of enlightenment, a wow moment... it can be anything, but would benefit us someday. After all, we all want to do something we could be remembered for. At least I do.

tags: Self Help, Philosophy, Thoughts

LearnedToday #6

Averse vs. Adverse

”Adverse” is used to refer to unfavourable while ”Averse” refers to the state of being reluctant.

Example:

The adverse effects of alcohol.

A good number of people are averse to sleep at work.

tag: English Language

LearnedToday #7

My guess about hyperinflation was correct. We don't always face the inflation problem if we (the government) just print money and get rich. In fact, if USA as a developed economy wants to purchase oil, it CAN just print money and do that without the fear of hyperinflation. 

Reason? USD is the standard currency using which most of the world trade today.

The government has tricked us to believe that more money means more income. On an abstract level, that is true, but in reality, the vegetable plant your mother has grown in the backyard is the actual wealth.

Ref: Economics StackExchange, Reddit, Wikipedia, Quora

tag: Economics

LearnedToday #8

Stupidly obvious. In order to properly use a hand dryer, you have to rub your hands. Don't just put your hands under it. 😁

The goal is to spread the water out as much as possible to increase its surface area and thus the evaporation rate.

Ref: Reddit

tags: Life Hack

LearnedToday #9

Remember Dijkstra algorithm?

In English, the Dutch name Dijkstra is normally pronounced DYKE-struh, in IPA /ˈdɑɪkstɹə/. It is a Dutch name, where the 'j' is always silent or pronounced like a 'y'. So the name should be 'dyk(bike, hike in English) -stra'.

tags: Computer Science, English Language

LearnedToday #10

People don't care about your struggles. They're just going to judge you by the results. Why should we exhaust ourselves if an easier alternative is present there already?

Be it a small routine task, a project or the life as a whole, the final outcome would be the only thing you'll be judged by. The route to that destination is usually not smooth, but who cares? That struggle story would only be inspiring if you reach the success.

tags: Philosophy, Thoughts