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Mini-Course: How to Speak Pashto - Lesson 4 - Present Tense First Person

When you are starting your journey on how to learn Pashto, the very first thing you need to master is the "identity" ending. In the KPK dialect , especially the way we speak in Kohat , the verb usually comes at the very end of the sentence. This is where the rules of Yam and Yu come into play. The word Yam (یم) is used exclusively for yourself. Whenever you start a sentence with " Za " (meaning I), you must finish it with "Yam." It functions like the word "am" in English. For instance, if you want to tell someone you are fine, you say "Za kha yam." Whether you are hungry, tired, or happy, as long as you are talking about yourself, "Yam" is your anchor. It is a simple pattern that builds immediate confidence in your speaking ability. On the other hand, we have Yu (یو). This is the plural form used when you are talking as a group. In our culture, the "we" is often more important than the "I...

5 Tips to Make Your Code Awesome

Coding is one of the professions with a profound impact. Programming enabled humans to land on the moon; it revolutionized businesses, created millions of jobs, and digitized every aspect of our daily lives.  However, programming has its fair share of pitfalls that result in huge losses of money and resources. These pitfalls emanate from simple, but bad programming habits. In this article, we’ll discuss five tips that would make your program error-free. So let’s dive in right away: 1. Avoid copy-pasting/plagiarizing code from websites: However, it is entirely normal to search for any problem on Stack Overflow , if you get stuck somewhere. Similarly, it is also reasonable to copy code when you are learning. But blindly copying and pasting snippet of codes from a website is a bad practice.  It hinders you from realizing your full potential. It is very enticing to take a shortcut, but it would hurt you in the long run. You would become so reliant on online help that you won’t be ...

Will Quantum Computing rescue the Internet of Things (IoT)

The IoT is the latest fad in the computing world. If you haven’t heard it yet, it is the Internet of Things! It does what it is supposed to do. It connects the electronic devices to the internet, e.g., your refrigerators, microwave ovens, cars, and even doorknobs. By 2020, it is estimated that 50 billion devices will be connected to the IoT. Despite the pace of connectivity, IoT is still figuring out some very basic problems, such as privacy concerns, security issues, integrating it with traditional computing , data transfer, etc. With the rising number of crimes, traditional computing doesn’t seem very promising. Perhaps Computing based on Quantum Mechanics may resolve these pressing issues.  What is Quantum Mechanics? It is a branch of physics that deals with matter at the subatomic level and its interaction. It differs from Classical Physics in that energy, momentum, and other subatomic properties are quantized or restricted to a certain level. At that level, matter c...

Job Enrichment – Reigniting Enthusiasm

Job enrichment  denotes assigning new or redesigned job descriptions to the current job roles and responsibilities. Each designee in any organization is assigned certain tasks and roles that s/he are expected to fulfill, so they are entitled to a certain amount of recompense in terms of money, bonuses, perks, and other  fringe benefits . The main purpose of job enrichment is to reignite enthusiasm in the employees and give them the feeling that they are cared for and that the management is not only concerned about their current job and tasks but also endeavors to give them skill sets that will be beneficial for them in the long run. For example, the  network administrator  may be assigned the new task of  data backup  of the organization's online assets. Similarly, job enlargement is to increase the job responsibilities within the ambit of the same designation.  For example, besides the clerical and business correspondence, the personal secretary c...

Major Commandments in the Holy Quran and Similarity in Other Scriptures

The other day I was reading the Holy Quran I came across the commandments given to Muslims in Chapter 17 ( Surah Israa ), I found that similar commandments are also found in the  Old and New Testaments (the  10 commandments and the  seven deadly sins ), and even in non-Semitic religions, i.e., Buddhism .  People who have read those will find the similarity here (as the Holy Quran confirms what is in the previous books and makes corrections where necessary).  Don’t associate any partner with God. (Chapter: Surah Israa 17, Verse 22) Worship Him alone. (Chapter 17, Verse 23) Respect and Good behavior towards parents. (17, 23) Keeping the ties of Kinship. (17, 26)   Spending in the way of Allah on relatives, destitute, and way-travelers . Avoiding wasting wealth. (17, 26) Don’t kill your children out of fear of poverty. (17, 31) Avoiding extramarital relationship/fornication . (17, 32) Don’t kill the innocent. (17, 33) Don’t devour the wealth of orphans/wido...

5 Gross Habits Pakistanis Should Stop Doing Immediately

Pakistanis are amazing people. When they realize their full potential, they go nuclear on their own. Make fighter jets . Win sports world cups . However, they have a fair share of useless and gross habits. Pakistan would be better off without these: 1.    Spitting in every nook and corner One of the grossest things you would experience in Pakistan is the patches of saliva almost everywhere. The habit isn’t limited to the uneducated folks, even the well-off and educated people indulge in this gross habit. Some spit the Naswar balls, others the ground Chhalya , and the rest, the Pan . Besides having these sweet ‘confectionaries’, people feel compelled to prove their masculinity by hurling the spittle in the most distant trajectories. Believe me, no girl has ever got impressed with this ‘show’ of masculinity. 2.    ‘ Safai Muhim ’ of their noses You would find some people so engrossed (almost ecstatic) in cleaning their noses and making small balls of boogers tha...

Soul Mate: Script

Soul Mate (Script Inspired by a story in Reader's Digest) By: M. Danish Hussain Qureshi Characters Fariha: A young girl, who is unaware of her fatal disease Kamal: Fariha’s father Sameena: Fariha’s mother Arsalan: Boy who receives cornea donation Eye Surgeon, Doctor 1, Doctor 2: Different doctors Act I Scene 1 FADE IN INT - Home -  Day Synopsis: Fariha, an 18 years old girl is talking to her mother. She shows her a sketch, she drew. Woman sitting on a sofa, a girl enters the room with a paper in her hands. Girl pulls out ear plugs attached to her mp3 player, from her ears Girl sits on the sofa besides the woman and takes out the paper in front of her Woman looks at the paper Woman looks at the girl’s face Girl talks looking at the paper Girl gets up and puts the ear plugs in her ears Girl gets out...