Christmas and Holiday season is around the corner and this calls for taking some time out to find that perfect gift for a loved one. With so much happening year round making a decision on what to buy and what not is really difficult. Prices are expected to drop and this should be the best time of the year to buy stuff you have been dying to get your hands on whether for yourself or for someone close. We have some gift ideas lined up which will for sure make it easier for you to find the ideal gift.

• ACM Wallet. What’s in a wallet? well literally your whole life, as it carries your IDs, License, money, credit cards etc etc. And by the way a sizeable population on the planet buys Leather wallets. ACM wallet is quite different, its made of metal, comes in multiple colors and is designed to hold all types of credit/debit cards. Personal/Company logos can be engraved on the outer surface. Comes in two varieties for housing 6 or 12 cards. The cards snug in nicely in their bays and are ejected on pushing the corresponding button. A separate clip is provided for carrying cash. This is the perfect gift costing a mere $ 40 and hence tops our list. Check out the ACM website for more information.

It’s always a great idea to change the décor of your house to coincide with the changing seasons. The reason being that home décor that looks great in summer may not be suitable for winter. While a cool, airy look is preferred in summer, in winter, the need is to create a cozy feel with warm colors and fluffy fabrics. After all, what could be more wonderful than coming home to a warm, cozy setting when a cold, bitter wind is blowing outside and rain is pattering on the window panes? The best part is that changing the décor to suit the season doesn’t necessarily involve major changes like repainting the walls or getting new furniture. It can be done in very simple ways. Here are some tips to “winterize” your home. All you need to do to survive the winter blues is choose the right fabrics, textures, color schemes and accessories to warm up your interiors and give that extra comfort during the colder months.

What goes in must come out, and so it does except that some of it gets dissolved in to our tissues, and is converted in to body fat. So over the years various protrusions start appearing on one’s body in the shape of fat a belly, love handles or even big bottoms, not to mention other noteworthy parts Loosing weight requires a lot of will power, efforts and time. Well in a way yes, but considering the fact that it has taken years to accumulate it will take years to dissolve, unless drastic measures are taken to melt it, or even go for a liposuction (only if you can afford it).

• Cut Down Your Sweet Intake. I am not saying you start using sweeteners, or give up sugar altogether. Just reduce your intake by 50%, if you take a cube/spoon of sugar with tea/coffee reduce it to half. If you drink a can of Pepsi start drinking half of it or better still go for a Diet Pepsi, same goes for ice cream. The biggest factor in gaining weight is always the sugary sweet things so by cutting down your intake by 50% you will subsequently reduce your fat accumulation process or even slow it down. This is the most important step so be sure to follow it strictly.

Whenever a new season arrives, we all look for new things to add into our lives. Whether it is about new clothes/shoes, cozy look for lounge or may be some new accessory, we all desire some changes to make us feel different. With November just starting off, am sure most of you will be digging into your wardrobes to look for some stylish warm clothes that you can wear to your workplace. As we can assume most of you will be returning back with a sad face, failing to find anything decent. Come on even if you don’t have a decent dress, all you need to do is spend some money and add some new & exciting things to your wardrobe.Let’s discover some interesting tips that you can try out this season.    

1- Colors that can heat up your winters

Winters is the best time to experiment with colors that you have never worn before. Some colors that can look great on you can be earthy green or teal green (for a nice decent look) , plum or wine (one of my favorite color), metal and silver (to make you look chic), organic brown or gray (great for office look) , golden yellow or dull gold (for a slight bolder look), spicy red or maroon (great for making people’s head turn). Darker colors can definitely give you a smoother silhouette look.

If you are a millionaire, a movie/rock star or own a business comprising of multiple food chains or something like it, I would seriously urge you to hit Ctrl+W and look somewhere else for whatever you are looking for to kill time. You may also do it by simply clicking the “X” sign in the right top corner of your screen, for the information provided here is by no means meant for you. It is in fact meant for people who happen to fall in the salaried class, by the salaried class I mean those people who work all month long and then queue up for the monthly check which somehow vaporizes in less than a month. So even if you have get paid in five or six figures chances are you will have financial problems at one time or another. This article is not meant for any class or category of the employee, in fact I am just writing down a few tips which will help you keep yourself in check, and if you are lucky may even help you in saving some money for those “rainy days”.

Before I begin let me just say, most of the problems in life whatever their nature maybe can be tackled by good management skills and financial matters are no exception! Read on for drawing some wise lessons…

Sometime back it was Symbian OS which gave users the flexibility of installing hundreds of thousands of applications, then iPhone overshadowed everything by making available thousands of applications at the Apple website, now its Android’s turn. The Google based OS for smart phones that is poised to take the world by storm has an equally impressive number of applications lined up for its loyal followers. Some of the most wanted are described here in not so fine detail. The applications/games introduced here have been selected after much surfing and browsing.

• Wapedia. Originally developed by Taptu Limited the application makes it possible for users to access Wikipedia contents on their Android based phones. The application is fast in accessing content even on 2G Networks. This is a must have utility for Wikipedia fans. Its features included news items, image rendering, auto-complete feature for article titles, support for multiple languages and links to alternative wikis.

Pakistan is currently under a deadly wave of suicide bombings. The nightly-news is replete with stories of terrorists placing explosives on their bodies, in bags, or into vehicles and detonating the bombs and themselves among crowds of innocent civilians. With bombing incidents happening increasingly in our country, we can no longer take safety for granted and must take measures to protect & defend ourselves. For this purpose I have developed a guide from various reliable internet sources that is a must-read for everyone. But first, a little background.

Suicide Bombings – The ideology behind them & the terror they create

Suicide bombing is the concept of killing oneself while killing others. The target of a suicide bomber is usually a highly populated space which is likely to be a well-known, public area, usually at peak times. Currently in Pakistan, suicide bombing is the most frequently used tactic in terrorist attacks. This is the most damaging method in terms of destruction of life, property and evidence

One reads and hears about terrorist attacks all the time these days, but it is only when one has a narrow escape that one realizes the true horror behind such an experience. The following is a true account of the terrorist attack that occurred back in December 2003 when the then President, Pervez Musharraf’s motorcade was attacked twice near Chaklala Scheme 3. Around 16 people died and dozens were injured in that attack. It is intended as an eye-opener for those people who even in these terrible times are still of the “it-can’t-happen-to-me” variety and believe themselves invincible to any such attacks.

They say it is always better to learn from others’ experiences … wise words certainly. They also say that one cannot truly comprehend another’s fear or sorrow until he himself is placed in a similar heart-wrenching predicament, and experiences the kaleidoscope of emotions first hand. A few years back, I would have argued that you don’t need to be punched in the face to know that it will hurt, but now I realize why these words have so much wisdom.

Google recently unveiled its free live Sat-Nav for mobiles. This thing will give free real time, directions between different destinations to users on their mobile phones. Motorola’s Droid is the first device that is going to have this service. The Google Maps Navigation combines various services that have a search engine for finding addresses and Google Street View for viewing photos of the locations. This also includes live traffic stats for users to avoid traffic jams.

Other features include searching in plain English, searching by voice commands, search along the route you’re already on, Satellite view and the Street view. All this for free? This is good news but what will happen to Garmin’s live service or even Tom Tom’s paid services that cost dollars to maintain?

There’s news on the music front also, thanks to Google again. Search results in the US include links to audio previews of the artists albums and songs. Also included are the links to purchase music from Lala or MySpace. If you need to trace songs by lyrics alone this can now be done since Google has teamed up with Gracenote to provide such services.  Plans are underway to offer this facility for other regions as well, however, no time lines have been given. In some cases users might be able to listen to clips of tracks or even complete tracks.

On the social networking front Google has introduced Google Social Search (presently in Google labs only). This will enable users to find social content on the web that is relevant to them. Presently is an experimental stage this service uses Google profile contacts, Gmail contacts and feeds from Google Reader to make a “social circle for the users. data from other services like Twitter, Face Book and Picasa will also be logged and put in that circle. Privacy issues aside this is poised to be a good service.

I recently came across a brilliant article by Imran Khan that I really wanted to share with you guys. In this article, Mr. Khan effortlessly explains something very complicated in the simplest of manners, which in my opinion, is the true mark of a skillful writer. What I really liked about this piece is that it is very relatable and applicable to the current situation prevalent in our country. It talks about our prejudices towards our own religion and culture, and our deep inferiority complex of the West that has been passed down from generation to generation. Imran rightly points out our hollow concepts of religion and how we are all guilty of practicing it selectively as per convenience. He goes on to talk about the importance of spiritual well being and how studying and understanding the true fundamentals of Islam has helped him achieve inner peace and become a better human being. He finishes off by emphasizing how important it is for us (the educated class) to do the same if we want to:

• Understand the true meaning of Islam
• Create a middle ground between the two extremes prevalent in the country today
• Fight and eradicate extremism
• Portray Islam to the Western world in its true essence, which is of a progressive and liberal religion and not the gun wielding, blood thirsty satanic one it is seen today