User Experience and the Message-Channel-Source Theories

Today in the world of new media, user experience is more worthy than the medium is. Like I considered twitter a more reliable source than Facebook, if I saw a news on the both mediums, I personally prefer twitter because it is my experience that leads me to prefer twitter over Facebook. Although the news on both is same and credible, I will prefer Twitter.

Not only user experience matters, sometimes the medium also required. For example, in twitter the medium is the message of urgency. The logistics of twitter are unique. Users are only allowed to use 140 characters and the medium requires captivating messages in order to draw attention to readers. As a medium of communication, Twitter is meant to captivate and tap into our short-term attention spans. It is targeting those individuals who are too busy to read an entire article, blog or the newspaper. Readers are given small bits of information with the option to click on a link to read further. Many people are constantly on the move and need the information quick and simple.

Another example of LinkedIn, LinkedIn as a medium is used for business related purposes. For example, promoting a cocktail party would certainly not be marketed using LinkedIn as a medium to reach your audience. It is does not matter what we say over LinkedIn as marketers, it is that we are using LinkedIn to reach a specific audience. On LinkedIn, the medium is the message of professionalism.

Other example, Websites are another medium most commonly used by marketers to reach their audience. Marketers use a company’s website to promote products/services and connect them with the needs of their customers. Again, it is not the website content that matters, but the medium of the website itself. Unlike Twitter and LinkedIn, there are no restrictions on the length of content. Websites can also represent any level of professionalism. Regardless of what content is used on a website, the websites themselves – along with blogs – are used as interactive web pages of a company, allowing the visitors to take a guided tour of what a company represents and provides. On websites, the medium is the message of presenting the details of your company to your audience.

Many marketers may interpret McLuhan’s the medium is the message argument to state that the message is irrelevant altogether; this is ultimately not the case. What marketers should take from McLuhan’s theory is that the medium they use is the message they are sending to their customers. Knowing that Twitter will convey a different message than Linkedin and that both will convey a different message than a website is ultimately what McLuhan was reasoning. As a marketer, know your audience and research the best medium or media in order to reach them. After all, whatever medium you choose will be the message.

Apart from Medium is the message, who’s saying it is more important. For example, I watch Shahzeb Khanzada Show and Shahzeb khanzada acts as an opinion leader to me. If shahzeb would say anything I would believe his words, despite of which medium he uses. 

There is another theory which tells that message is everything, but I disagree with this theory not always the message matters, it’s the medium. Most people prefer medium over message. For example, for some people Geo TV credibility is high for them than ARY. If both channels air news of a blast, people would believe news that air by GEO, no matter the news (message) is accurate by both mediums.

In the end it’s only the person’s own perception that matters. No matter what medium, message person sees. 

Ending Escalation of Conflict Through Media

Most of the stories that media covered are contributing to conflict escalation. Sometimes this is desirable; escalation of conflict is the best way for lower-power groups to gain power to effectively advocate for themselves. But often, escalation gets out of control, and leads to increasing polarization, violence, and costs to all sides.

Media coverage also de-escalates a conflict. There are ways that media can be used to de-escalate conflicts and make them more constructive. Media can help to clarify important issues and promote public understanding of the conflict. It can also highlight the terrible costs associated with war and violence and help people to recognize that they are on a disastrous course. In addition, mass media communication about possibilities for conflict resolution, including documentaries about successful resolution efforts, might prove highly valuable. In general, these sorts of peace media strategies can help to balance out the voices of extremists.

The media can promote positive relationships between groups, particularly in conflicts over national, ethnic, religious identity. The media can lessen polarization between groups in the following ways:

Showing the other in a similar light like Iraqi news media did, they emphasizes news about how both Shia and Sunni suffer from violence and that helps in building a bridge of common empathy.

Depicting people with the same types of problems; for example, an HBO documentary featured Palestinian and Israeli mothers who share the same grief, both losing children to violence victimized by the conflict.

Sharing similar interests and positions; for example, a TV show known as ‘Heroes from Rwanda’ featured stories about people who saved members of the opposite ethnic group from the killings, while often risking their own lives.

Condemning violence For example, the Republicans and the Unionists in Omagh, Northern Ireland jointly renounced violent attacks in all newspapers and media in August 1998.

Seeing the common ground between one’s own group and another group of people builds empathy. Such thinking leads toward depolarizing and normalizing relations between the groups in conflict.

Effective use of the media to prevent conflict and build peace requires a careful study of the lessons of social marketing to prepare for effective use of the media.

Rewriting Article 19

Pakistan got its first constitution, nine years after independence, on March 23, 1956. This constitution guaranteed the right to freedom of expression under Article 8. The freedom of press was not mentioned here. This constitution was based on the Government of India Act of 1935 and was abrogated by the military regime of Field Marshal Ayub Khan in 1958.

The new constitution, promulgated in 1962, guaranteed the right to freedom of expression under Article 6, but it too failed to provide for the right to freedom of press. The constitution of 1962 was soon abrogated by the military regime of General Yahya Khan and after his regime fell, the democratically elected government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto set about formulating yet another constitution for Pakistan — a task which was completed in 1973. It was a ‘consensus Constitution’ — all parties concerned seemed satisfied. The Constitution of 1973 guaranteed the right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19 and it also guaranteed the right to freedom of press.

Article 19 of The Constitution of Pakistan: Freedom of speech, etc.

“Every citizen shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression, and there shall be freedom of the press, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of the glory of Islam or the integrity, security or defence of Pakistan or any part thereof friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, [commission of] or incitement to an offence.”

If I have to re-write article 19, I would write it by knowing the circumstances that we are living in age of new media. The original Article 19 is not implementing on new media, we can say it’s a flaw in it and there must be some amendment.

Re-Writing Article 19: Freedom of Speech

All citizen of Pakistan shall be free to express opinions and ideas on any platform without being punished for doing so. There shall be freedom of press, in which they can write and published their opinions. There is a reasonable restrictions imposed by the Islamic laws in the interest of glory of Islam, which is implemented only on Muslims that any Muslim found or guilty in the act of blaspheming Islam will be taken as an offence.

Explanation:

Citizens may speak their mind, put their ideas or opinions in writing, get published, post them over the Internet, or express as they feel in any manner possible, this includes the right to seek, receive and impart information, ideas or opinions in any form which may be available.  Glory of Islam is only implemented on Muslim by the Islamic laws that any Muslim found or guilty in the act of blaspheming Islam shall be taken as a crime.  

Cyber Crime Bill: What to expect?

Cybercrime is a fast-growing area of crime. More and more criminals are exploiting the speed, convenience and anonymity of the Internet to commit a diverse range of criminal activities that know no borders, either physical or virtual.

Cyber crime bill is for the prevention of electronic crimes. This bill is presented to the Parliament of Pakistan and it is still on discussion. Cyber crime is major issue of this country, and I wonder why this bill has not been approved yet.

After in-depth study of this bill, it seems that this bill will only strengthen virtual moral policing in the country by authorities instead of eliminating Internet crime in Pakistan.

The bill is lengthy and full of legal jargon. It seems that they have gone through cyber law books, archaic laws in Western world and then have combine it with the religious restrictions and social taboos of this country. This is what this new Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill 2015 is all about.

These are five main points from summary of this new bill:

1) It will be a crime to send text messages or photos to anyone’s email address or phone without the recipient’s consent.

2) The police or FIA or any other agency won’t need a warrant to search, seize or make arrests.

Under sections 17 and 18 of the new bill, the political criticism and political expression in the form of analysis, commentary, blogs, cartoons, caricatures and memes has been criminalized. Authorities will decide what is moral and what is immoral.

3) Under section 31, government can block or remove access to any website or online source if it deems it inappropriate.

4) Under section 26, the ISPs, restaurants, malls, hotels, offices, airports, bus stations and anywhere with Internet facility will be required to hold data record for 3 months.

5) IT industry and the online social media users are terming the bill as senseless, brutal, punitive, arbitrary, and utterly far from reality.

According to my opinion, this bill is not in favor of human rights; establishment should leave something for the public. It is basic human rights for the public to express their ideas. It is just portraying democratic dictatorship.

In the constitution of Pakistan, article 19 gives us the freedom of speech and expression, however this article is not giving us truly freedom but comparing it to cyber crime bill it is much more to appreciate of. It is not just a bill, it’s a kill bill. This bill is killing the rights of citizens of Pakistan. 

“This [Cyber Crime] bill looks to curb freedom of speech—look at section 34 of this bill, it gives unfettered power to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) —we will oppose this legislation (on the assembly floor) if our recommendations not incorporated,” said Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MNA Shazia Marri.

I do not understand; how can debate or discussing politics could be act as a crime. The focus should be on protecting citizens, not restricting them. Muhammad Aftab Alam, a lawyer and expert on media law said, “My apprehension is that the bill will get through the National Assembly. However, even if the assembly approves it, once the bill reaches Senate, it may be stopped by political parties, aside from the PML-N.”

Islamabad-based lawyer, Babar Sattar has own opinion on this; he believes consensus will have to be developed in the senate in order for the bill to be passed and even if it passes, the courts can take judicial review of laws to the extent that any provision can be struck down if it is in breach of the Constitution. If the law is overbroad and infringes on fundamental rights, any individual can provide evidence to being the process of judicial review. Let’s hope it doesn’t get passed.”

Should citizen journalists be a part of media organizations?

Citizen journalists have become regular contributors to mainstream news, providing information and some of today’s most iconic images, especially where professional journalists have limited access or none at all. While some call this opportunity as an improvement in journalism, others fear that too much importance is being given to such personal accounts — undermining ethical standards and, eventually, professional journalism.

Shayne Bowman and Chris Willis describe it as “the act of a citizen, or group of citizens, playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information”. In practice, this can range from commenting on an existing news piece to publishing an article, podcast, photo or video on a personal blog or Twitter for that matter.

A dedicated citizen journalism portal such as YouTube, or other interactive portals that work as extensions to mainstream media allow readers to share the story as they find fit — but that is being done on a separate tab and not mixed up with the regular flow of news. On sites like CNN, editorial gate keeping is left to the audience, uploaded content will be published unedited as long as it is considered news (as distinct from advertising, for example) and respects principles of taste and decency.

Citizen journalists tend to bring themselves into the story; many see themselves as citizen activists. Some happen to be at the ‘wrong place at the right time’, such as the people caught up in October 26 earthquake, who emailed their personal accounts, pictures and videos taken with their mobile phones to mainstream media: Geo News and Dawn, for example.

“For citizen journalists; journalism is not their prime occupation, and only a few get paid for their efforts,”explains Hasan Ansari, a reporter associated with The Express Tribune. “In contrast to traditional journalism, which brought news as a completed product to its audience in a vertical way, citizen journalism is a more horizontal and conversational sharing of news, which is always unfinished,” he adds.

Today, technological advancements in the communication sector are playing a vital role in promoting citizen journalism. A tablet or a mobile phone which possesses internet compatibility; broadband, if possible, to upload pictures and videos, is being widely used by people for the purpose of storytelling in a unique yet interesting ways. Popular social pages “Humans of New York” and “Humans of Karachi” are a few good examples.

Moreover, setting up a personal blog in today’s digital age is arguably the easiest thing to do in the world. With its power, pictures and videos can be uploaded to specialized portals within minutes. Mainstream media should also consider making citizen journalism as a part of their organizations because a designated battalion of reporters can’t possibly go everywhere and cover everything, but with the help of citizen journalists, maximum and diverse coverage could be ensured.

Implementing Copyrights Law in Pakistan

Copyright protection in Pakistan is a major economic, political and diplomatic issue.

In Pakistan, where laws are hardly implemented, copyright infringement has always been a source of concern, and the country has been on the Special 301 Watch List since 1989.

Pakistan updated its copyright law with amendments in 1992. However, no significant progress against pervasive copyright piracy was made until 1994, when raids against video piracy began. The International Intellectual Property Alliance recommended last year that Pakistan remain on the Watch List, and United State Trade Representatives (USTR) agreed, while noting "greater efforts to combat copyright piracy" are required.

While I was skimming through articles on book piracy, I learned that Pakistan is one of the world’s worst markets for books, as piracy of published materials is rampant. Large-scale photocopy piracy and higher quality print piracy have completely decimated the market for most legitimate publishers. This is a worrisome state of affairs. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) must devote resources and manpower to raid pirate printers and warehouses where pirated books are stored, and pirate retailers, especially those in the Karachi and Lahore Urdu Bazaars. The Ministry of Education must ensure that (International Intellectual Property Alliance 2007 Special 301: Pakistan Page 355) all books being used in educational institutions are legitimate copies.

Their is another study about Fix Royalty-Free Book Compulsory License that violates Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), which tells that the government of Pakistan amended its copyright ordinance in 2000 to include Section 36(3) that allows a royalty-free compulsory license of books. This amendment was passed without any opportunity for publishers to comment. This provision threatens to further diminish a market already almost completely overrun by piracy. This royalty-free compulsory license violates the Berne Convention and TRIPS and the government of Pakistan should rather be working on to repeal it.

The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, usually known as the Berne Convention, is an international agreement governing copyright, which was first accepted in Berne, Switzerland, in 1886.

Pakistan needs to understand the issues. Why do we have to care about copyrights? Who owns what? And later, formulate rules for using others' works (copyright compliance), guiding users about fair use, licensing rights and regulating them.

Pakistan also needs to implement a comprehensive copyright policy that provides basic guideline. This guidance should give in educational institutes; school, colleges and universities.

Guidance for faculty, students and staff could start from clarifying ownership issues, explaining fair use and other educational exemptions. Develop strategies to accommodate (for now) and reduce (for the future) and create a need to take permissions. To build a cyber infrastructure, transactional and subscription licensing, acquiring electronic access that covers predictable user needs, assessing the university's role in scholarly communication.

A thoughtful policy should made that is widely disseminated will go a long way towards establishing the good faith requisite to the most effective defenses available to universities under copyright law.

Also the growth in the internet usage has put further pressure on the authorities to curb its infringement. Some forms of information, when made accessible on the internet, are easily copied. Because the costs of copying are low and because copying is often anonymous, publishers have often responded with more aggressive enforcement of existing intellectual property rights and with calls for extensions of those rights to cover additional content, new media and new forms of access.

Copyright Issues Related to the Internet:

The technology of the Internet provides a new medium for dissemination of information, and this presents numerous challenges to traditional norms of copyright law. Most fundamentally, the internet provides means of nearly effortless and essentially perfect duplication and dissemination of works such as texts, pictures, audio-visual material, and other authorship for which copyright law provides certain exclusive rights to owners.

How New Media Entertainment Affect Your Life?

There are plenty of entertainment-based social networking platforms that could be related to. Like most of the teenagers, I too, keep track of favorite TV shows, latest music, on-the-chart movies and upcoming release of books through new media.  

Portals such as Foundd, Goodreads, Last.Fm, Bit Torrent and Rotten Tomatoes are just a few examples.

Working as a movie-recommendation engine that learns about your tastes, Foundd requires some time to set up. After rating a bunch of films, it allows you to see a tailored “Watch List” of the films you may like to watch. That’s how its algorithm predicts your selection pattern.

Foundd is another amazing portal. Through it, I can create a group list comprising up to five people. Foundd then suggests films according to the pattern of the hits on the content by that list.

But if you are an avid mover watcher, like me, and don’t want others’ influence to influence you, Foundd also gives you an option to just directly pick your next flick through the search engine.

For book readers, Goodreads is the king of social reading. I can share my progress as I work through a book; I can create a to-read list, and can moreover add ratings and reviews to books I’ve read.

It makes Goodreads a great place to connect with other readers or reading groups.

Goodreads allows me to keep track of my personal book collection by organizing books I’ve read, or want to read, into different collections, or ‘shelves’. Quite a fun in mingling with fellow book lovers and discuss latest literary releases.

What’s life without movies, books and music? With its integrated scrobbling feature, Last.fm can pull in details on the music I listen to with very little effort involved. I have a habit of looking back at my listening habits so this is really a great way to do it.

I can also get suggestions for new music, view my own listening data in a chart and connect with other people possessing similar taste for the genre.

And who in today’s world will want to watch a new without have read a preview or plot of it first? Though Pakistan still lacks in formal education for film critics, but things are pretty different in the Western parts of the world. Film-critics are as professionals as any filmmaker.

Rotten Tomatoes is a platform dedicated for such critics to submit their reviews on films. Originally designed for film lovers to visit the portal and check latest movies and read reviews on them from critics with authentic credibility, the Tomatoes help in developing a good understanding of films.

With films come torrents. Ethically I shouldn’t be advocating it as torrents encourage piracy which is a cyber-crime in many countries. But for those like me, with little budget, torrents are a blessing in disguise to fulfill our daily doses of film needs — without which, it’d be difficult for us to survive.

Does Technology Facilitates Religion in Today’s World?

Not just religion, technology has influenced everything in today’s world. It has become easier for preachers to use technology as a medium for communication.

As I’m not well versed on how preachers of Hinduism, Christianity or Zionism are utilizing technological advancements, so I’d prefer to focus on Islam alone.

I happen to come across Daneyal Sufi, a lecturer on cultural studies, and tried to know his insight on the subject. He believes that technology has been a blessing in disguise to communicate with large number of people in a relatively shorter period of time.

“There are (now) radio stations devoted to Quran’s recitation and translation. There is a wooden spreader on which the Quran is kept for recitation as it makes it higher so the necks don’t sprain,” he tells me.

Sufi had made a solid point, but as he is an accomplished academician, I expected this sort of a response from him. But my hunger to get a more detailed perspective led me to Osama Bin Azhar, an undergrad student pursuing computer science.

Osama preferred to link the technological advancements to the time approximately some 1,400 years ago. During the time of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), Osama tells me, the preachers preaching the religion had to go to different parts of the world on foot — which was a slow process.

With a revolution in communication industry, preaching has literally gone viral. Now we have Television and internet to communicate with millions in no time at all.

Osama’s input made me search on a bit of preaching organizations on the internet. I was amused to see a Facebook page with a massive following. Nauman Ali Khan uses social media to upload short videos and posts on religious topics to interact with his followers.

However, it is a famous saying that where there is good, there will always be bad. People say there are many those who mislead their followers using the very same medium. But look at it this way: medium is not the problem, it is the message.

For me, medium is like a knife. It can be used to commit a murder or to spread butter on a bread toast. It is a matter of one’s intentions.

Osama puts it aptly when he say, “Medium is only there to facilitate. It has nothing to do with leading or misleading towards the right path.”

I was pretty much satisfied with the information I had succeeded in obtaining, but I felt there was still something missing; a version from someone belonging to a totally opposite discipline. So, there I went to meet Yasir Siddiqui, who is a management executive in one of the city’s prominent software developing company.

Just a heads up, as Yasir’s take on the subject is going to be business-centric, which will be looking on the results the medium had achieved thus far.

“Social media has its own perks and challenges. Social media can be a facilitator to religion but in limited edition. It has given right to every Tom, Dick and Harry to speak up and share their voice, no matter how dangerous or obnoxious that voice would be,” he says.

Yasir believes that in order to learn or seek something “you first have to be loyal and sincere to your own self”, which helps a person in better understanding the message being delivered.

“But social media has taken away that very essence,” he adds.

For Yasir, most of the people on social media are less sincere towards them and have become “narcissistic” as they only tend to care about their opinion and do not respect disagreement.

How parents monitor their children in the age of social media?

It is more of a matter of “should” rather than ‘how’ parents monitor their children’s activities in the age of social media. Thankfully, I do not have any personal experience for this but asked a few children and parents about it.

A 12-year-old girl, Anam, tells me that when she is using Facebook her mother comes to her room and stands still in front of her, asking what she’s up to. “It’s really annoying,” she says.

There is a rule on Facebook that no one under the age of 13 is permitted to join it. However, there is no real way for Facebook to truly enforce it, because anyone can lie about their year of birth.

There is another family I asked this question, they were too afraid to reveal their names. They said, “Our kid uses internet around 12pm till 1pm, after that we monitor our kid’s internet history.”

This was a ‘Wow’ moment for me. I should have told them that there is an option to remove your entire internet history. So, I asked them if they had come across any inappropriate searching content. They replied in negative, saying: “There was just science and social studies content in search history.”  

I think they are too naïve as someone as young as that kid can’t possibly be searching such stuff at 12pm.  

Mind you, there are some intelligent parents too. They use Filtering Software. This software searches a child’s internet usage; many even enable to view the exact keys that were typed, time spent online and all computer activity.

I happen to come across one such family. “It allows us to monitor social media sites’ block chats, filter content and we can even monitor our child’s cell phone with a software program like this,” they told me.

And this was something truly unknown to me before I was enlightened about it. I couldn’t have ever imagined Pakistani parents of being able of going to such an extent. I guess we are really progressing.

It is wiser for some parents to install computer in a central location in their homes as it becomes easier for them to keep an eye out what the kid is up to. Setting down a limit of usage hours is not a bad idea at all.

Where many kids don’t seem to understand the complexities of the online world, it is a duty of their parents to guide them.

The villain bollywood long waited for

It is good to be a villain than hero. A villain plays an important role in the movies. Villain is the main evil character and the antagonist to the hero. He is the wicked or evil person, basically villain has a dramatic or fictional character that is   typically at odds with the hero.

While we look on the bollywood movies, bollywood playing a great efforts in the film industry all over the world. Bollywood industry has the great and remarkable actors and actress, but there is only one person who   suits, perfect for villain, that is Prakash Raj. 

Prakash raj is an Indian actor, director, producer and television presenter. He manages working in five languages that is Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi. He is hardworking actor. He has now become one of the most wanted villain in bollywood industry.

National award winning actor, Prakash raj played the role as a villain in one of the blockbuster movies of bollywood like,

•  Wanted [2009] Directed by Prabhu Deva, Produced by Boney kapoor, Puri Jagannadh and Sohail  Khan
•  Singham [2011] Directed by Rohit Shetty and the film was produced under Reliance          Entertainment.
•  Dabangg 2 [2012] Directed by Arbaaz Khan and Produced by Malaika Arora Khan.
•  Policegiri [2013] Directed by K.S. Ravikumar and Produced by T. P. Aggarwal and Rahul Aggarwal.
• Zanjeer [2013] Directed by Apoorva Lakhia and Produced by Amit Mehra.

Prakash raj put his tremendous and preeminent efforts in all movies as villain. And the best part is that Prakash raj played the role of a villain in the movies of one of the finest actors of bollywood, like Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt and Ajay Devgan.

Prakash raj played an outstanding role of a villain in the character of Gani bhai, Jaikanth Shikre, Thakur bachcha, Nagori Subramanyam and Teja. And these were just the fictional characters for the movie, not for to target any person in reality.

So it is quite clear that today Prakash raj is one of the most anticipated villain in the bollywood industry.

“All the Heroes of bollywood have now a common villain that is Prakash Raj.” 

"Communication Theories and The Pursuit of Happyness"

“Emotions just don’t carry with a read.”

“It’s more difficult for them because they are not emotional, they are thinkers.”

-         Paul R Warner

Communication or effective communication has important role in our life.

If a person is communicating there is a comfort zone. People have a tendency to slide to silence or slide to violence.

After watching the movie “Pursuit of Happyness” that is directed by Gabriele Muccino starring Will Smith as Chris Gardner and Jaden Smith as Christopher. Basically this movie is related to real Chris Gardner. It is a true story based on problems in life and struggles. The story depicts how a homeless person becomes a millionaire.

So in this movie there are lots of effective communication and some miscommunication.  From the theories of communication: Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Packard’s theory of needs.

Firstly I will talk about Packard’s theory, in the movie “Pursuit of Happyness” there is a scene in which Chris Gardener is giving interview for internship in stockbroker where he persuade the people taking interview and finally succeeds in getting selected. This is the effective communication.

Secondly, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs consisted of five factors that are survival, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization. In the movie there are scenes which are related to these factors.

Survival: In one scene Chris Gardner doesn't give up, he survives and doesn't lose hope. In spite his wife doesn't stand with him but he stood alone with his son. This is survival.

Safety: Chris Gardner was very conscious for safety that is why he was struggling for shelter to save and hide him.

Social: In this point, Chris Gardner was very social to others. He doesn't show any problems to others but socializes very bravely in the environment.

Esteem: In this, Chris Gardner has the self confidence that he can do it. He doesn't give up like his wife. He stood up in front of all problems. He has a dream that he want to achieve it.

Self-actualization: In this, Chris Gardner live like an intelligent, he never let problems take over on his work. He kept the problems away and began to work even harder than before.

These are all the communication skills that Chris Gardner possesses in the movie “Pursuit of Happyness.”

                                                                          * * *

"Communication in Islam"

          

Islam is communication, no matter how you look at it.

Islam is communication with yourself and it is communication with God Almighty, with the Qur’an, with your fellow human beings and with the rest of God’s creation.

It is communication using the Qur’an, the Hadith and all the innate and acquired faculties, abilities and skills with which your maker may have blessed and endowed you.

So, Islam is communication. No matter how you look at it.

At the same time, Islam is also all about life, in every sense of that expression – life in this world as well as life in the next world.

And, of course, Islam is all about the Qur’an – and vice versa.

Qur’an, God’s own communication with and to his creation – the worlds – the best and finest and most complete that there is or can be.

And Islam is about the Hadith, the communication with and to his companions and the world of the man, Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, the most perfect and influential communicator in all of human history, whom God Almighty sent down into this world to invite and guide human beings – all human beings – to him and to a world of perfect bliss both in this world and the next world.

Thus, life, communication and Qur’an, together, are a matchless triple token of love from God the life-giver, God the master-communicator, God whose immortal and timeless miracle-message the Qur’an is and forever will remain.

From God whose most favorite and the most miraculous description of himself is Ar-Rahmaan: the most loving, the most kind, the most compassionate, the most merciful. This simply does not have a parallel in so-called “religious” lore of the world or in the annals of human discourse and communication in general.

Islam teaches us how to communicate with others, how to deliver Islamic teachings by communicating others. Islam is the religion of peace but today in the world Islam considered as a religion in which terrorist are born and this is wrong it's not true; every religion has some bad and good peoples. The people in the world are not really awaken by true fact, so how we show them our true religion, the first method is communication that our Islam easily taught us How to communicate with people, let's see the communication in Islam,

let's we go to the past, communication first start by (wahi) the message by ALLAH that was given by ALLAH's angel Hazrat Jibrail (A.S) to Prophet Muhammad PBUH in the cave of Hira in Makkah, That's was the first communication, between ALLAH and His Prophet Muhammad PBUH, Hazrat Jibrail A.S used to deliver the message of ALLAH to prophet Muhammad PBUH and after that communication move forward towards the people to whom that the teachings of Islam must be deliver to them, so the people were delivering the message of Islam to the people, and how they were delivering the message, Islam taught them how to deliver the message, by communication. Islam taught us communication, and how to use it. Now i will tell you the communication of the Prophet Muhammad PBUH,

         

 Prophet Muhammad PBUH was careful about individual differences when conversing with people. For example, he had a conversation with a Bedouin, whose wife had given birth to a black child; the Bedouin denied that the child was his saying: "My wife gave birth to a black child. I want to reject this child". Prophet Muhammad asked: "Do you have camels?" The Beduin replied: "Yes" The Prophet asked:"What color are those camels?" The Beduin answered:"Red" The Prophet:"Are there any white, black or grey camels among these?" The Beduin: "Yes, of course. There are grey camels among them." The Prophet then asked: "Well, where do you think these grey camels came?" "O Prophet, that is in their blood; they take after the ancestors." "Perhaps this boy has taken after someone in his ancestry (he resembles them)." (Muslim)

         

Prophet Muhammad PBUH doesn't say directly NO, it is your child, but He explains it that the Bedouin could understand, and this is best communication. There are the principles of communication of Prophet Muhammad PBUH when he used to communicate with others like, He used sympathy to effect the person being addressed, secondly Prophet Muhammad PBUH established communication with people at every opportunity, Prophet Muhammad PBUH addressed the mind and emotions in communication,

        

One of the important principles of communication presented by Prophet Muhammad was addressing the mind and the emotions. It is known that Prophet Muhammad addressed the minds and emotions of those around him when communicating with them. For example, some of the Companions told him: "O Allah's Prophet! The wealthy have taken the blessings and gone. They pray like us, they fast like us, but they give more to charity than we can."

The Prophet replied:"Do you think that Allah has given you nothing to donate? Every time you praise Allah, every time you say Alhamdullilah (thank God), every time you say "La ilahi illallah" (There is no god but Allah), whenever you command good or frustrate evil these are donations to be blessed." (Muslim)

 Islam taught us while we are communicating, the important thing is that to give importance to other to whom we are communicating, Prophet Muhammad Gave Importance to People and the Things They valued: {Do not revile those whom they call upon, besides God, lest they then revile God out of spite, through ignorance.} (Al-An’am 6: 108) suggests that we should give importance to those things that other people value.

For this reason, even if we reject the thoughts and ideas of non-religiosity and disbelief, it is not considered moral to attack the thoughts and opinions of another person, no matter who they are.

The daughter-in-law of the chief of the hypocrites, Abu Jahl, accepted Islam during the conquest of Makkah. At this point, out of fear of her husband Ikrima, she fled to Yemen after accepting Islam and receiving the promise of forgiveness from Prophet Muhammad. Then her husband was found and brought before the Prophet: "Welcome, cavalry traveller " the Prophet said, smiling. Then he turned to his friends and said "Ikrima will join you; when you see him do not denigrate his father Abu Jahl because such an insult will hurt those who are alive." (Al Albani) 

So communication really manners in Islam, we must be truthful in our speech, All people should stop gossiping, back biting  and slander, avoid loud speaking, yelling and shouting, avoid lewdness, foul language and cursing.

“Will the United States retain it’s status as a sole super power in 2018?”

    

          “Will U.S retains his status as a sole super power in 2018?” This is the very interesting question. For my opinion, I will say yes! America will retain his power in 2018.

        First of all there are so many points that are present to make a country a super power. Firstly, “Super power is a state with a dominant position in the international system which has the ability to influence events and its own interests. A super power is traditionally considered to be a step higher than a great power.”

        Alice Lyman Miller (Professor of National Security Affairs at the naval postgraduate school) defines a super power “as a country that has the capacity to project domination power and influence anywhere in the world and sometimes, in more than one region of the globe at a time and so may plausibly attain the status of global hegemony.”

        The criteria of a super power are not clearly defined and as a consequence they may differ between sources. And from my opinion I said America will remain super power. Let’s see America in different ways:

Political: Strong capitalist federation/constitutional republic. Permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council Plus two allies (France and Britain) with permanent seats. Strong ties with Western Europe.

Geographic: Fourth largest country in the world (after the Soviet Union, Canada and china) with an area of approximately 9.37 million km square.

Cultural: Maintained constitutional guarantees for freedom of speech and freedom of press, through the ongoing cold war aid lead to a degree of censorship. Rich cultural influence in Music, Literature, Film, Television, Cuisine, Art and Fashion.

Military: Highest military expenditure in the world, with the world’s largest navy surpassing the next 13 largest navies combined, and an army and air force rivaled only by that of Soviet Union possessed bases around the world, particularly in an incomplete “ring” bordering the Warsaw pact to the west, south and east largest nuclear arsenal in the world. Powerful military allies in Western Europe (NATO). Global intelligence network, the CIA, ties with paramilitary groups in the developing the world.                                                       

Economic: The economy of America is the world’s largest national economy and the world second largest overall economy. It’s nominal GDP was estimated to be $15.8 trillion in 2012, approximately a quarter of nominal global GDP. It has large resources of minerals energy resources, metals and timber. High standard of living with accessibility to many manufactured goods. Home to a multitude of largest global corporations. U.S Dollar served as the dominant world reserve currency. Allied with G7 major economics.

Demographic: As of Jan, 1^st 2013 the United States had a total resident population of 315,224,000 making it the third most populous country in the world. It’s very urbanized population; with 82% residing in cities and suburbs as of 2008 (The world wide urban rate is 50.5%).

       These are all the aspects that shows America the powerful country and according to the article of “Daily Capitalist” by Xinhua, china’s official news agency, He made the few points that make America the powerful country and he quoted “America will still be the only super power for the next 20 years”. He clearly describes by his article that America will retain his power and do so, me.

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Political Instability in Pakistan

Now a day's everybody knows Pakistan is such in a terrible condition, where bomb blast, target killings, suicide attacks etc are going on. And by all these we must want the strong action to stop these things. Our country people are afraid, our leaders, our government are weak to stop them. So we need to develop the strong force to stop these things. In spite of all these, Politics in our country is playing an important role than our whole forces like army, police, rangers etc are doing. Politics in our country and other countries is very important. In Pakistan Politics is the back bone, for improvement. Political Parties are playing an massive role in Pakistan, where their party leaders have an status all over Pakistan and as well as in the hearts of people. People of Pakistan really owe them; they follow them, respect them and obey them. Political leader is like a guardian to them. But now politics in our country is going very worst due to bad judgments and lots of more. According to me there are few factors that are suits on the Political Instability in Pakistan and these are as under,

1) American Influence in the Politics of Pakistan:

        

    Great powers have great designs Pakistan has resource rich area in the north-west, people rich in the north-east. Pakistan is junction of South Asia, West Asia and Central Asia. US interests in the regions to contain the Growing China, nuclear Iran, terrorist Afghanistan, and to benefit from the market of India.
     Security and Business are two main US interests in the region while Pakistan is playing a from line role against terrorism. Therefore Pakistani governments, either military or civilian, always sought green signal from Washington which supported dictators.

     Secondly, America’s influence in Pakistan grown very much, and America’s pressure increases to our politicians, which makes bad results, like drone attacks, war on terror etc made Pakistan worst.

2) Illiteracy:

  

    There are many reasons for Illiteracy such as poverty, population expansion, feudal lords and wadera system, low allocation of budget, male dominated society and lack of schools in rural area. In which Pakistani politics in controlled by Feudal lords.

Many Politicians have fake degrees and they are sitting in national assembly. That’s why Pakistan is going to worst.

3) Bureaucracy:

A bureaucracy is a group of non-elected officials within a government or other institution that implements the rules, laws, ideas, and functions of their institution. (Wikipedia)

    According to this definition, In Pakistan many bureaucrats are implementing such rules, laws etc. that are unethical to politics and that are making politics unstable.

4) Weak Judiciary

     

          Judicial weakness is at the root of security problems. According to the article of paktribune.com on 5^th-Nov-2012- "The security forces detain many insurgents under the name of kidnapers, thieves, corrupt, but after a while they are released back and then they return to doing their actions again, and more strongly than before," he told those gathered.

"If they were to be punished under the country's laws, the security will be better in society. [But] now, no one feels safe except of those who are in power," he added.

 Judiciary plays an important role in crisis Management in Pakistan Politics. If the Judiciary is strong than Politics will be strong.

5) Controlled Media

Today our Media that represents our Pakistan is sold out to corrupt, insecure persons. That’s why the truth is not coming out, many reporters, journalist dies due to these acts, no one even know. In politics there are some people that are corrupt, that have cases for murders, they don’t have feelings for Pakistan just they come here for money and in that case our Media support them that’s why their faces don’t comes to screen. Our Media hides the reality form us, they only shows that what they want to show us, they even don’t care about people of Pakistan. Just still they wants’ to grow up there channels rating.

6) Corruption

     The some corrupt politicians in Pakistan put the nation in severe economic crisis and the nation is still looking for a growth strategy. Our Economic planners look towards the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other multilateral donors for guidance to spur growth.

        Corruption in Pakistan is widespread, particularly in the government and lower levels of police forces. The country has had a consistently poor ranking at the Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index with scores of 2.5 in 2011, 2.3 in 2010,and 2.5 in 2009 out of 10.  In 2011, Pakistan ranked 134 on the index with 42 countries ranking worse. In 2012, Pakistan's ranking dropped even further from 134 to 139, making Pakistan the 34th most corrupt country in the world, tied with Azerbaijan, Kenya, Nepal, and Nigeria. (Wikipedia)

6) Army Influence:

According to the critics, army influence in politics and in affairs of Pakistan increases very much.

Army in involving in politics day by day. According to the many Journalists, Army era has now ended, now there will be Pure democracy era. Army’s role in Politics is like a tramp card in which they can change the Government and make new Government called Dictatorship.

“The influence of the Army in Pakistan's domestic politics is a major challenge”.

(Tharoor)

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References: I took the idea and points from these links.

 http://www.cssforum.com.pk/css-compulsory-subjects/essay/42679-political-instability-pakistan-causes-effects-solutions.html

http://www.pakwatan.com/articles/Political-Corruption-and-Economic-Development-in-Pakistan.php

http://post.jagran.com/influence-of-army-in-pakistans-politics-a-challenge-tharoor-1359094482