Routable Karachi Map courtesy of Pkmaps.freeforums.org

The zip files available for download on the site are custom made for Garmin GPS units. To install this map on your Garmin device you can either download the Mapsource version or copy the gmapsupp.img directly on your supplemental map file. If you have a non-Garmin device there are a few help files on the forums to help install the same Karachi map on alternate devices.

Routbale Map of Karachi available for free

Attached are a few screen shots of this amazing routable map navigating through the streets of Karachi

Newly painted monument - seemingly looks better than the old cement grey look

I stationed my self at the Dell Pakistan booth in hall number one, and unfolded my laptop but much to my surprise there was not a single free Wifi network available and I had to borrow a WiMax device from a friend (Muneeb) to connect to the internet. I surveyed this hall, visited a few other stalls, came across the CIO WebStudio’s booth where they were preparing themselves for video recording public opinions, interviews and product reviews. The idea sounded promising and I was sure I wont be getting bored today.

I then took a walk to hall number 2, but there was nothing too exciting going on at the moment so I decided to visit here latter when things would get a bit juiced up and crowded, but little did I knew.

At around 11, crowd began to pour in. I didn’t expected so much excitement but as soon as the few young university students showed up the people at the Dell booth asked them to change into a Dell shirt and pose for the brand. I was surprised how professionally the young boys posed, as if they were actual super models so I too quickly moved in to capture a few of them striking the best poses they could.

The Exhibition was quickly picking up momentum, the Zong stall had a large wall where students were scribbling they heart out, writing messages to those they loved, expressing their thoughts, a boy desperate to get married even left a matrimonial advertisements, with a small photo of him and his cell phone number.

A lot of student were visiting the exhibition looking for a good laptop. Almost all of them wanted a low cost solution. Those studying programming, designing or new media arts were looking for performance while those who searched the internet for research, or studies were more interested in Net books. I realized net books are gaining popularity with more senior users who use computer to exchange mails and keep in touch with the rest of the world and their business online are taking interest in them as net books are lighter, more convenient and easy to keep concealed.

Back at the CIOwebStudios stall, some bloggers and Tech Savoy geeks recorder product reviews for different Dell laptops. Jehan Ara, President of P@SHA, recorded an ITCN Special of “In The Line Of Wire”, also  many Students and visitors expresses their experience of the exhibition and shared their views and spoke their minds on the video.

The crowd had built up heavy, I didn’t felt comfortable carrying my heavy laptop and camera, to another halls, besides there was much happening here which was turning out to be an over stretched effort to cover all live as it happens. The Interviews at CIO Webstudio,  students and young bloggers posing for Dell and cheering for Pakistan and their favorite brand on videos, people scribbling funny thoughts at Zong continued and while another activity of  filling out forms for a 17 inch LCD, give away lucky draw at Dell also started.

An hour and a half later the Dell stall was extremely over crowded, the result for the draw was about to be announced, and then a name was called, Abdul Rauf Shaikh, and a young man with a wide smile on his face pushed the crowd aside. It took me quite an effort to reach inside the Dell stall to take a picture of this lucky winner. He was too excited to speak, he just thanked everyone, got a few pictures taken of him by the brand’s staff, a few media people  and happily went home.

At this point I was beyond tired, it was already 6, I packed up my bags, but as soon as I was about to leave the Dell people told me they had a little surprise stored for me. A beautiful Dell Laptop Carry Bag that brightened me up, they thanked me and said they enjoyed my company and live tweets and certainly I thanked them back.

The exhibition was a wonderful experience, I wish I could have covered the rest of the halls too, but for this I would surely need a handy net book and a WiMax so I can move through the thick crowd without having to carry my huge and heavy laptop around, actually that was the only reason I didn’t had the heart to visit the stalls further away from my base camp, but I hope may be next year I will cover it all and better.

Patient name : Mrs. Gulshan Mushtaq Khowaja
MR # : 0023981
Blood Group: AB+
Please Note down the MR # Specially if you are going to donate Blood.

How powerful is our new generation :)

I have just joined the Metblogging team for Karachi, so would like to present a short introduction before I go on with my post. I was born in Karachi,  left it when I was 18 to go abroad, lived little more than half a decade abroad, and am now proudly calling myself a Karachiite again. I am an engineer by profession, however I have an avid interest in the city. Especially in its architecture. You can see a website I made at www.historickarachi.com which showcases the heritage of our city. Since this is my first post on metblogs, I would like to start on a somewhat lighthearted note. Lets talk about the Conocarpus. 

More specifically, the Conocarpus Erectus — a tree that has taken over Karachi like a storm! A tree? well yes. Karachi’s climate is rather hot and dry. It does not rain here much and there is not a lot of vegetation that can survive here easily without much help and still look fresh and green. Not the Conocarpus! This is one tree that has made its presence felt in the city over the last two years. You can see it everywhere now… especially greening the areas around Shahrah-e-Faisal and Karsaz. But also in many different areas. Bin Qasim Park, Beach Park, Khayaban-e-Hafiz in DHA, University Road near Askari Park, etc. etc. Not sure how it got here, but most probably the CDGK had some part to play in introducing this species to Karachi. And some of us can be pretty resistant to such new stuff… I heard a rumor going around recently that this tree causes diseases :-O  Nope. Nothing can be further from the truth. Maybe we should spend a minute and understand it more…

Conocarpus on the Karachi waterfront

Conocarpus Erectus is not really a tree, but a rather large woody shrub growing up to 40 feet tall. It originates in North America from the edges of swamplands in Florida, which is why it has often times been confused to be a mangrove. It is not a mangrove though, but is a very hardy plant that can survive the hot weather, bad air, bad soils and frequent droughts associated with urban environments very well. Its leaves are very thick and leathery which help it retain its health in the heat, and the plant also grows very well in saline soils. In fact, its salt tolerance is so good that it has been used for the reclaimation of salinity damaged lands. All these qualities make it an ideal plant for Karachi.

Conocarpus has also been used in other regions of the world. This tree-like shrub can be trimmed in a lot of ways and is often used for road-side medians, parking lots, screening hedges, and other landscaping purposes. Kuwait is one country that has made extensive use of the Conocarpus for its landscaping. Another is Hawaii, where it is so prevalent now that it has become naturalized. 

In Karachi you can find the Conocarpus in a lot of areas. Particularly in DHA, the soil is naturally very saline (since most of it is reclaimed land) and Conocarpus thrives in DHA much better than any other trees. It has been used to particularly good effect on Khayaban-e-Hafiz where a lot of people have used it to screen their houses from the road. It has also been put to good use on roadside medians on Shahrah-e-Faisal and in the Karsaz area. On the water-front road now, the CDGK has planted lots of saplings where it should be able to grow very well. In fact, it may be a very good idea to plant it all over our beachside. That would make it look very attractive. 

Conocarpus grove in front of Dolmen City

If you are a greenery fan, I would suggest that you should introduce yourself and your neighbourhood to the Conocarpus. Make sure that you keep individual trees at least 5 feet apart so that they do not smother each other. Some watering may be helpful in order to help the plant take hold, but otherwise, it should do pretty well on its own. Here’s to a greener Karachi!

For any further queries you may contact on following number:

Numbers:
Fawad Afridi: +92321-2437256
Naveed Mansoor: +92334- 3893330
Talha: +92321-2007664
Arshad: +92321-8227388

Or FB event page:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=86430380805

Voice of the Civil Society

The time has come to support and help our countrymen in a more consolidated manner. These are citizens of Pakistan, who are desperate and living under miserable conditions in camps and make-shift abodes. Visualize an environment where they don’t have a roof over their head and no basic needs (food, medicines and education for their children) being fulfilled.

PLEASE DON’T LET THE TALIBAN’S TURN AROUND AND TELL THE IDP’S THAT THEY WERE ABANDONED BY THE CIVIL SOCIETY!!! We have done the easy part by lodging our protest to the relevant authorities against the Taliban’s, but the actual people suffering need our help. So here is the plan;

Donation camp at the Carlton Hotel – Karachi, from May 15 to 17 of May, 2009 (Between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m).

They will be collecting the following items for the internally displaced people (IDP) from Sawat, Buner and other areas who are pouring in to Islamabad and other areas. WE WILL BE MORE AFFECTIONATE TOWARDS INDIVIDUALS, WHO OFFER CASH DONATIONS!!!!!

Tea
Dry milk
Sugar
Pulses
Edible Oil (sachets)
Flour bags
Rice
Biscuits
Candies for Children
Soaps
Soaps for washing clothes etc.

For Children:
Story Books
Coloring Books
Coloring materials
Copies & pencils
Bedding (Gudda’s, pillows & sheets etc.)

Medicines:
Pain Killers
Cough syrups
Bandages
Antibiotic oral medicines and for external use (e.g. Furecin powder)

Tents:
For this commodity, we are looking at cash donations as these would be bought on the spot.

We have found individuals working (round the clock) in Islamabad, who will go where the IDP’s are located and distribute the above mentioned items to the best of their capability (They have honed their skills of distribution from their experience gained at the time of the Kashmir earthquake.)

Facebook Event

Mission Rescue Pakistan

PAF Base Faisal & at Delton’s (main kh-Shaheen)
on May 16 & 17th.

They’ll be requiring following items:-

1. Tents
2. Clothes
3. Kitchen Items
4. Food

Members, who want to help & support through Cash please note down the account number:-

MRP (Mission Rescue Pakistan)
Account Number: 005028071-001
Bank: HSBC (Schon Circle Branch)

For any more details please feel free to contact us.

Facebook Event

Numbers:
Fawad Afridi: +92321-2437256
Naveed Mansoor: +92334- 3893330
Talha: +92321-2007664
Arshad: +92321-8227388