From the Desk of Asif Nawaz

Since the previous QuickPlay download keys are expired, here are the latest download keys.  Please note that from now on keys posted will be valid for FIVE days only, after which time you will probably have to leave a comment to let me know new keys are needed.  The download link for QuickPlay is http://downloads.asifism.com.  Products available for download and their respective keys are:

HP QuickPlay Direct 2.3 (sliced):  23fe5b0b32490c403a67af82bfbc28d4

HP QuickPlay for Windows (2.3 to 3.6):  e37437845d6425fa89e4f74a5f1af41f

WinRar 3.6.2 to extract the QuickPlay Direct Download:  19fab90cdb097516815e24e5f74bda65

HP QuickPlay TV:  319350ff0f835d4897e858532566f6be

Any problems?  Let me know.  Please also kindly vote on the polls and let me know if there are any problems.

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I received this relatively disturbing news via email from the DN (Domain Name) Forum today.  Please sign the petition and help domain name owner’s keep their domains:

Dear DNF members,

We feel it is our duty to bring this to light and make people aware of what’s happening. As you may have heard, Senator Olympia Snow (R-ME) has very recently introduced a bill that could threaten the future of the domain name industry and internet commerce. Snowe’s bill has been introduced as the “Anti-Phishing” bill, but contains provisions that are largely unrelated to these objectives. These provisions radically and unnecessarily expand the rights of trademark owners to essentially provide them with monopoly rights on registered trademarks. This would be to the detriment of millions of individuals and businesses engaged in lawful and legitimate Internet commerce.

If the bill passed through congress, it may allow large businesses to take domain names with little to no effort. Trademark owners already prevail in 85% of all UDRP complaints and nearly 100% of all ACPA cases. Yet some apparently now wish to establish a new regime for contesting allegedly “infringing” domains that is tilted even more in their favor by denying basic due process and substantive protections to domain name registrants – and that provides the possibility that they can use their power and influence to sway public officials to expend taxpayer dollars in defense of private Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs).

The proposal unfairly targets domain name registrants for a widespread Internet practice – if it’s aim is to halt the advertising monetization of brand names and typographical variations thereof when consumers engage in direct Internet navigation or in web searches it utterly fails in that endeavor, as this activity is also engaged in systematically by search engines, web browsers and ISPs.  

We need to do as much as possible to make sure the bill is revised to serve it’s purpose of preventing phishing scams and not to bury domain name owners. Please sign the petition at http://www.SnoweBill.com to help in the fight and to review all portions of the bill.

Thank you for your time and attention in this matter.

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Lots…

Last few days I have kept pretty busy, and I think it’s going to get like that, but I’m going to work Asifism.com into my schedule too.

I’m currently setting up a new business (more information on that will come soon).  I’m also in the process of working out with a franchise issuing organization to purchase an accounting/bookkeeping franchise (more information on that will follow too).  In addition, I am studying for CIMA and actively working on DesignerPottery.com (http://www.designerpottery.com/blog).  I need some help on this, so if this even remotely sounds like something you can help out with, please visit the blog and give me insight, feedback, or simply contact me for how you can help.

Of course, business is my priority.  As part of marketing my accounting/bookkeeping consultancy, I am launching, in conjunction with VAFTA Solutions Limited (http://www.vafta.com) an accounting blog, which will start with me completing the second part of the accounting software article, where I will discuss and compare various accounting software.  Consider it a QuickBooks Vs. Peachtree Vs. Sage Vs. Microsoft Office Accounting.  Oh, and for the record, Sage sucks.  Don’t buy it if you can avoid it.  Get Quickbooks or Peachtree or Microsoft Accounting.  They’re all three about 10 times better than Sage.

Basically, this new blog/section is about the following:  many modern accountants/bookkeepers are able to use accounting software, but really, when you have a complex issue at hand, you always need to go back to your basic T-Accounts, i.e., the debits and the credits.  I’ll start off with the basics, and as I study for CIMA, I’m also getting a refresher of all the basics.  In addition, and this is probably going to be extremely productive and useful for some accountants or professionals, as I embark upon this journey to discuss accounting in hopefully an unambiguous way, unlike any other damn book (published by CIMA or Gleim or Kaplan or anyone else), I will point out the differences in the way the accounting is done under US GAAP and the way it is done under UK GAAP / IFRS.  This itself is a bit of gap bridging activity for me, since almost all of my practical experience is US GAAP driven, and now I have to adjust to the IFRS.  Please note that the differences arise at the basic level, and are carried through to the final stages, and there are problems if you hold a reluctant frame of mind about how the accounting needs to be done.  Consistency past borders is hard to find in this profession, and that can get frustrating.

In addition, I will discuss some of the certification processes along the way.  I am a member of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) in the USA, although I never really got a chance to sit for the Certified Management Accountant (CMA) exam while I was there.  In the UK, CMA doesn’t mean much, but CIMA means everything for good financial & management accountants.  So, I’m indulging in CIMA now, unfortunately, from the basics, and I’ll explain why when discussing the certification.

However, stay put for this new set of articles and lessons in the Accounting & Finance Category of Asifism.com.  In addition, these lessons may be reproduced on http://www.vafta.com/blog, but I’m not so sure of that.  If anyone is interested in writing on accounting, please be sure to email me at asif[at]asifism.com for more information.

For those of you who come here for QuickPlay.  That will keep coming, as will more information regarding it that comes irrelevant.  I’ve had some new problems with my HP dv2415, and I haven’t really had time to key that in, but I’ll be dicussing that too.  More Memoirs of the HP dv2000 series!  Please, the offer for the DVB Card/Software article is still on the table, but unless people are serious about it, we won’t be spending time putting that together.  Please vote on that:

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In addition, if you have hard success or failure with HP QuickPlay via Asifism.com, please let me know and leave comments on what needs to be changed. 

Of course, as I get time inbetween, I’m also dying to give my cynical political insight on things like the triple victory of Hillary Clinton over Obama (in Texas, Ohio etc.).  And of course, I’m dying to put down a few lines on Bush backing up McCain, and John McCain being very happy about it.  Like anyone cares what George Bush thinks anymore!

Well, that’s all for now folks!  Let’s get this rolling!

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Okay, I’ve been asked this question in several comments and via email quite a few times, so I’m going create a post.

QuickPlay is a piece of software, like Windows Media Player, that runs your videos and audio.  To use QuickPlay or QuickPlay for Windows, you have to logged into your Windows installation, and it runs like any other normal piece of software.  Say you’re browsing the internet, and you’re done, and want to watch a movie, you either choose QuickPlay from the start menu or you use the Quick Launch Button (QLB) for hp QuickPlay on your laptop.  It will launch QuickPlay for Windows.

QuickPlay Direct, QuickPlay Direct 2.3, specifically the edition available on this website for download, makes a separate installation on a different partition on your hard drive.  You DO NOT have to be logged in to your windows installation or user account to use QuickPlay Direct.  Here’s how it would work.  Your laptop is turned off, but you want to watch a movie or listen to music, but without using any other feature in your normal windows installation.  You hit the QLB DVD button on your laptop, and whala, QuickPlay Direct boots and you can pop in your DVD and start watching. 

Here’s where it’s confusing.  QuickPlay for Windows installs like any normal piece of software.  QuickPlay Direct requires installation on a separate partition, and QuickPlay Direct 2.3 automatically installs Windows XP separately on that partition JUST FOR THE USE OF QUICKPLAY DIRECT.  So, if you launched QuickPlay Direct 2.3, you’ll see a Windows XP logo flash on your screen before you go on to HP QuickPlay Direct.  Before QuickPlay 2.3 and 2.0, the QuickPlay Direct versions made a linux installation on your Hard Drive Partition instead of Windows XP.

QuickPlay Direct 2.3 can be installed whether you use Windows Vista or Windows XP on your PC, because it will automatically do its installation of XP.  QuickPlay 2.3 for Windows is Windows 2.3 Compatible.  All QuickPlay for Windows Versions 3.0 and above are only Windows Vista compliant.

Still have questions?  Comment and post them.

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I just came back from the cinema, and I wasn’t disappointed.  I haven’t been too impressed with the film industry lately, but with The Bank Job, they’ve got it right.

This movie has what every movie should offer: entertainment, story, decent acting, and more entertainment.  You would think that the fact that it is based on a true story might make it less interesting.  You don’t really get bored at any point during the movie, and Jason Statham and Saffron Burrows both give a good performance, which is further backed up by Richard Lintern.

Now, for those of you who have not yet seen the movie, spoiler alert!  I’m going to reveal a bit of the movie to ask the one question that I have. 

Here goes: so basically a psycho black guy called Michael X has photos of a certain Royal Princess indulging in some sexual activity in the Carribean.  This guy is responsible for importing drugs into the UK, probably running some brothels, and other crimes.  The government or intelligence (MI5 or MI6) cannot prosecute him or take action against him because he threatens to make the photos public.

However, they know of the exact location of the photographs: a locker 118 in the Lloyds Bank on Baker Street.  A bank robbery is set up up with some rather amateur robbers, the lockers broken into, and a bunch of things stolen from the bank.  Other high profile criminals also have items that have been stolen, and they get involved to recover their own items.  The stolen items also contain photos of various British MPs engaging in kinky sexual activity at a brothel in London.

Eventually, MI5 gets the photos, corrupt cops are arrested and prosecuted, and MPs have to resign.  It became a big mess because MI5/MI6 hired a group of amateurs to rob the bank, so it all looked like the intelligence or the government had nothing to do with it.  They eventually catch the black Michael X fellow once they have the photos.  The whole idea here was that when the photos are taken away, it doesn’t seem like the government has any involvement in it, because any of it could pose a threat to the reputation of the Royal Family.

Now, the movie was great as it is: fantastic entertainment.  Maybe this is too 21st centry, but won’t you agree, that if 2 guys wearing black suits walked into the bank, approached the manager, flashed their badges, and said they need to get into a certain locker, and the information has to be kept secret or the manager becomes a victim, break into the locker, and simulateneously go arrest Michael X.  Now they have the photos and they have Michael X, and the whole thing is hush hush.  Isn’t that how intelligence is supposed to operate anyway?

I know there are laws and regulations and procedures etc. etc.  But I don’t think the MIs in the UK or the CIA in the US typically operate within the law.  After all, their being above the law is the whole point.  Nonetheless, you could argue that they have had other copies of the photographs that they could have exposed if Michael X was busted like that.  Well, that could have happened the way he eventually gets busted in the movie too, and of course, eventually it all leaked, but was hushed with a D-Notice apparently.  And now we have a movie on it.

What do you think?  Wouldn’t the modern day methods have saved them a lot of hassle, although, I must confess, in that case we would not have had an entertaining movie.

 Tell me what you think. Vote & Comment!

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Is it just me, or is Marks and Spencer trying very hard to be green?  I’m all about being green, but I’m not one for supporting pathetic, horrible business ideas, and Marks & Spencer have really done it with this one.

Apparently, they’ve conducted research which concluded that the average life of a plastic bag was short-lived, and that it was bound to hit the trash can shortly after the goods were purchased and handed to the customer in the bag.  So, instead of learning from better business in the United States, they’ve now decided to charge every customer 5 pence per plastic bag, like that’s going to make any sense.  So far, this applies to Marks & Spencer Food only; the flashy plastic bag image must stay with the clothing or what?

Look, I think it’s simply a stupid idea to ‘help the planet’ by charging people for bags.  Do they really think that someone who’s spending £50 in a department store will mind paying 5p for a bag in a country where the sales tax / VAT is 17.5%?  No!  Not only that, the best solution to a problem is not to penalize the end, but to tackle it at the root.

Why doesn’t Marks & Spencer switch to paper bags?  There are environmental hazards with paper too.  But come on now, it’s a step in the right direction.  This attempt at winning the ‘green supermarkets war’ is a bad one; all Marks & Spencer will do is turn off customers.  Anyone with even a little common sense can see that there is a problem with this model to help the planet.  Just charging customers is a pathetic publicity stunt, one at which I hope Marks & Spencer fails, because it is an extremely superficial attempt to justify their savings and profits above and beyond a rather noble cause.

Help the UK and the environment by switching to paper bags that can decay, Marks & Spencer, not by passing on your cost to the customer.  A fine should be imposed on all stores that supply customers with plastic bags.  Then we’ll see who charges 50 pence and who switches to paper bags.

On another note, why isn’t the UK switching to paper bags?

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I recently read in an article published in a British Magazine which stated that the fact that Obama is leading the polls over Hillary Clinton, and it appears will most likely beat her, is proof of the fact that America is no more a racist society; well, maybe not as racist as it used to be a few decades ago.  On the other hand, another gentleman, who was interviewed in the article, stated that it’s not that America is no more racist, it’s just that America has learnt to deal with the racial problem better.

That may well be true, but it appears that America is no more interested in the (at this point democratic) political ideologies of the mature, white person.  But is that the only reason that Obama is winning?  The simple fact that he’s young, and black, and has a different attitude toward most things than, say, the Clintons or the Edwards or the Kerrys?  Probablt not.

But here’s what I can tell you.  If you read the news, the interviews, the poll results, the poll analysis, political experts, etc. etc., it seems like the US public has become so fed-up of the corruption in the White House, that at this point they’re willing to take up new blood, new blood that’s different, that won’t change his/her mind every now and then, and new blood that may offer something new.  The new part is key, because we’ve all seen what the Bush’s are capable of doing; between father and son, they’ve done it for almost 16 years, and America is more than hurting because of that.

The one simplest reason why Obama is leading the presidential race ahead of Hillary Clinton and John McCain (who looks like he’s angry all the time; maybe he should be checked into anger management or something) is because he is NEW.  People don’t know what he will do or what he can do, and people are desperate.  They have seen what the white folk have done (no racism meant), and they’re willing to take their chances with what NEW brings, because with white they now have to associate the sadistic presidential rule of President George W. Bush.  That’s a distaster, for both Clinton and McCain.

But there are other reasons why Barrack Obama may win the US Elections.  Despite the attempts of Hillary Clinton and John McCain to defame him on the public financing / funding issue, these are not serious enough allegations to damage his credibility.  With Iraq being a failure, Hillary Clinton’s former stance of supporting the war has from the very first day put her on very questionable grounds.  John McCain is all about war; civil, international, world.  He’s a war-like people, and he’s too traditional, which again gives Barrack Obama an edge.  Obama, on the other hand, never voted for the Iraq War, and that gives him the only head start he needs in addition to being NEW.

What plays against Obama, however, is the lack of confidence people have in the leadership of black people.  The same article also discussed the fact that although people are all for new and all for Obama, they are slightly hesitant, because they think that since a black man has never been a president, can he do it?  White people have been becoming US Presidents for the last 200 years, and they’re bred for it.  But is a black man educated, complicated, and charismatic enough to lead America.  Well, we’re going to find out, won’t we?

I’m not voting, since I’m not a US National and don’t live in the US.  But tell me, who do you think will win the election eventually?  Not who’s best, who do you think will become commander and chief?

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 I’ve recently had some problems with my Hewlett Packard dv2415us notebook, which was  replacement for my HP dv2120us.  As I’ve said earlier, it may be possible that the dv2000 series suffers from problems.  I have heard good things about the dv9000 series from some people.

In any case, I will discuss the problems with the dv2415 in another post.  For now, here are the latest QuickPlay Download Keys. 

On another note, a friend has offered to take some time and put up a guide about TV & DVB related information on PC/Notebooks, which will discuss the best DVB cards and Software, including HP QuickPlay TV.  If folks are interested, please let me know via the following poll, so that if there is interest, we may spend time on putting the guide together.

Please vote, and then proceed to the QuickPlay Download.

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The URL to download QuickPlay from is http://downloads.asifism.com.  Please use the WinRar download available to extract the files.  If you have any problems, do share. 

HP QuickPlay Direct 2.3 Sliced into 20 different parts:  ed8c02a1f5f0c2e31cfcaf766db2ac6b

HP QuickPlay Direct 2.3 Full:  9aca553911c690e4ecbe16ceff24af73

HP QuickPlay for Windows 2.3, 3.0 & 3.6:  a8ea2e0668ac1fe856900fcccea1f834

HP QuickPlay TV:  e04b326192cb2b6c312f7f9fe6436800

WinRar 3.6.2:  bbeb0066d215042ed2a7b6a70afa9ea4

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I recently wrote a small, not so comprehensive post about how my blog went from receiving 34 hits a month to over 5,000 unique hits a month in under a year.  I also mentioned that your primary goal, when making money, is NOT to get people to visit your blog and click on your pay per click ads like Adsense and make you money, but it is to provide genuinely relacant and good content with an ultimate goal to drive traffic.  Once you get some of that with good relevant content, well, there are much more efficient ways than PPC advertisements to monetize your blog.

What if you got paid to blog rather than get paid if someone clicks on your PPC ads?  Sounds more attractive doesn’t it.  It should, because maybe, MAYBE 1% of your visitors will click on your PPC advertisements.  If you were actually getting paid to blog, you would have two benefits that you wouldn’t with pay per click advertising:

1.  You’re blogging on a topic or content someone wants you to blog, which means there is a market for that particular product out there, and that actually means that you’re putting useful content on your blog, thereby inviting more traffic to your blog.

2.  Your making money from your blog is NOT solely dependent on pay per click advertising, which can be a nice alternative to you logging in to your adsense account 5 times a day to see whether you’ve actually made any money.

In addition to the above two benefits, your visitors will NOT be bothered by obstructive pay per click advertising banners all over the place, which will make for a more pleasant experience, possibly attracting more traffic to your blog.

I know you’re dying to know what this way of blogging for money is.  The good news is you CAN make money from your blog, but the bad news is you CANNOT do it with bad content.  You have to be willing to blog, and NOT just to make money.  Here’s how to actually make money with your blog, or what can actually being coined as ‘blogged advertising.’ 

Use Smorty, a blog advertising service.

Smorty is a service connecting advertisers with bloggers. Advertisers can pay bloggers to write opinion posts with links back to the advertisers site. Smorty can tell you who’s willing to pay what.  This is something you could attempt as an individual too, but unless you’re someone who gets over 20,000 unique valid and relevant hits on your blog, chances are an advertiser will turn you down.  With Smorty, you don’t have to worry about that.  Once your blog is approved for writing, you can make money with articles you write on your blog! 

This may sound too good to be true to some of you, but it isn’t.  And, quite frankly, if you’ve been relying on PPC networks to make you some extra money from your blog, this will sound like quite the pay rate!  Check it out for yourself!

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Rambo 4, was, without a doubt, one of the best action flicks in a long time.  It comes packed with explosions, gunshots, violence, and sense of realism on multiple levels.  The film has, however, not done too well in the United States.  It has done OK internationally, but it has not received the response that it should have.

Sylvester Stallone shines once again in the heroic / historic role of Rambo, this time in Thailand, to take a group of missionaries from Colorado who’ve come to Thailand into war torn Burma.  Later, he has to lead a group of mercenaries (ex British Army, and watch out for the Bald Irish fella) to rescue these missionaries.  The move is great, although the violence and action is not for the faint hearted.  You haven’t seen bodies being torn to pieces with a bomb before; you will see that here.

This movie is good not only because it is Rambo and its action packed.  Stallone looks good without a doubt.  For being 62, he may have a double chin and all going on, but he still comfortably pulls off the role of Rambo, and does it quite fashionably.  But its not just Stallone’s performance or the action packed fun that makes this film worth watching. 

Stallone, being the creator and director, has focused on a topic that in 2007 received some attention in the world media.  Burma, which has basically been a country with a civil war and military rule since the 60s, has seen oppression of its people and destruction of its history by its own military.  As it stands, no country in the world has attempted to help Burma out or suppress its army, primarily because Burma doesn’t have much that concerns or anything to offer to the world.  Burma isn’t Pakistan posing an extremist threat to the world, nor is it North Korea posing a suicidal threat to the United States, with the result that no really gives a hoot about what goes on there.

Well, apparently Stallone does.  I’m not sure how extreme the depiction of Burma in Rambo 4 was; it is, nonetheless, probably based in part on the situation there, and respect to him for that.  Stallone shines in this movie not only because of his acting and portrayal of Rambo that we’re used to, but because of the idea and message he tries to give to his audience.  I don’t know how many people will look at it that way, because I’m sure many of the viewers were turned off by the excessive violence.  However, I think the film was done well; not only was it entertaining, but it carried some good value and a hint of the eye opening truth of how really pathetic the world is.  I recommend that if you’re over 18, and you can stand some violent footage, watch the movie.  It’s worth watching, if not for the entertainment value, for humanitarian reasons.

Bravo, Sylvester Stallone.

If you watched this movie, please tell me and other readers what you thought of it:

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