To put in plain words, I was rendered speechless by spider’s production of this month. It was a fine powerful right hook on the jaws of critics like me, shutting their mouth tight for good at least for one month.
The centurion spider waived its scintillating twin copies proudly at me. Me, the perplexed, went bonkers and lost my sneer after rapidly glancing at the titles of the articles. Was it something I said, Spider?
The features, which made Spider of this month my darling, were its usefulness, relevance and flow. These three things are which Spider have been missing for so many releases, but this time they have yet again found out gold pot at the end of the rainbow. Now let’s see what happened to me title by title.
ED’s Note: Mr. Halai again played with words with dexterity. He set the tone and rhythm from the outset.
E-Mail Box: To keep my awe-mood intact, I didn’t even glanced at this section, not even to look whether it was I who won flash. (The pun was intended to M.S).
News Bytes, Netropolis: These sections were brimming with little precious gems.
Science Watch: Two pages wasted, No Problem!
@ Beat: Faras Ghani has done a swell candid review.
Cover Story: If anyone doubted when I said in January that Spider is the leading internet mag, he ought to see this cover story. It was so nicely weaved and the harmony was so intuitive and natural, it got digested in no time. Aleem Bawany laid the foundation and specified structure, Sadia Rauf built upon it with a style and Ali Ahsan Halai completed it. The person who ornated and lit-up the whole saga is Nouman Yaqoob.
The thing is that the Pakistanis have become fed up while listening to the virtues of the technology. The reason, Karachi and Islamabad are not and Bangalore is regional IT Hub, is the lack of awareness as how to earn from technology. The reason Pakistanis are rushing towards Information Technology career is to earn from it like other developing nations are earning. Well we know IT is the current and next big thing, but we want to benefit from it, we don’t any more want stuffed rhetorical harangue about the promises of IT. Spider could be the fore bearer of this beacon, starting from this March 2007 issue.
Security: Omer Khusnood, was a bit high this time.
Cricket: Cricket lovers can find plenty of resources in this issue. Though, in the context of current gloomy situation of Pakistan cricket, it seems pretty aloof.
Crime: Having myself lost cell phone on gun point upon my first visit to Karachi, I joined the chorus with Khawar Amir Khan.
Hot two: Nizar, tell me honestly, how many people after reading your article will be trying to use Ubuntu with PTCL V?
Hard Talk: Need I say it again? This section never disappoints, even in the darker days. Hamza Mudassir is rock solid, when it comes to talking hard.
Play Time: Ali Qasim Zaidi chipped in at right time with right stuff here.
Website Review: Spotlight was on some auto-related website and looked shade exaggerated. Pluck the science watch and kid zone sections and give more desi websites their due reviews. That’s my take.
Kid Zone: Arrrrgh
Gadgets & Gizmos: Well they have to put something in it.
Entertainment: Another small disappointment.
Freebies: Couple of useful tools there.
Graffiti: To describe this section, I would alter a little the quote by victor weissscoff , given in “Graffitiâ€. When spider is very bad, two things make it worth living- Cover story and “Graffitiâ€.
Last Byte: Venerable Dr. Atamush Kamal says it all in his nostalgic words. Dr. Kamal, we also want to read you in 101st, 102nd, 103rd ….. 199th issue, not just in 200th issue.
The give-away with the March issue is a welcome sign, over flowing with ads, this issue has couple of good articles, but there are some average ones also. Hafsa Adil, was one of the wayward and unrealistic one. It sounded awfully distracted and was full of artificial roses. Humna Ishtiaq has done a remarkable job by her words and her’s is the must read for every fresh entrant in IT.
Hats off to Hafsa Ahsan for portraying the true picture of IT education in Pakistan.
“Reality Bytes†by Hamza Mudassir failed to impress a great deal except one or two fine lines at the end.
Reba Shahid has plugged the leak of the skill and intellect quite nicely. Mohsin Siddiqui has done wonders in his piece. I want to push this article hard under the noses of Ministry of Education and Most. David ford has nothing new and efficacy-rich things to say. So if you want to skip another article, this one is a good candidate.
Mamun Adil has done a heart-winning job in exposing the so-called “web presence†of educational institutes in Pakistan. And there was a so-so article by Hafsa Adil with the off-beat name. Another little sweet feat by Humna Ishtiaq was the mention of three unique and dynamic sites.
Spider, Spider, Spider!!! My heart reaches out to earnestly appeal, with hands clasped together, to carry on this tempo of excellence which has just started. Remain useful and lucid, and not just “One Month WONDERâ€.
Previous Reviews of Spider Magazine:
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