Ideas2.06

Also includes: A GAMER’S UNIVERSE

By Hamza Qureshi (pg. 28) LOOPER—A REVIEW

By Momin Ahmed (pg. 42) AMERICA—Black and White

By Farhan Saad (pg. 52)

Words From The Throne

Dear Readers,

Ever wondered where the in life comes from? The m that comes to mind is the oneself’ but take a momen that actually means.

People are molded by eve by every grain of emotion experiences. The result: th ture itself. It is the combin tributes that becomes the be it artistic or moral. An or her best feels to be th sentation of a subject, whi types rely on ‘gut instincts life. Where do these me from?

drive to move forward most immediate answer e sentence ‘from within nt to think about what

ery atom of experience, n that makes up these he birth of human nanation of these very ate source of inspiration, artist draws what him he most suitable repreile the more un-artistic s’ to pull through daily editated feelings come

For some people, inspiration comes in the form of a ‘role model,’ an entity we fantasize as the ‘perfect’ self and thus pursue and endorse. It’s no one thing in particular, EVER! If there’s one lesson to be learnt from life, it’s that looking at events as singularities only begets shortsightedness and short-sightedness in return leads to unfortunate and ‘innocent’ accidents (I’m sure we’ve all had experiences like that, moments where we curse ourselves for not keeping the bigger picture in mind, but hey! To err is to be human!)

So tough nut in a nut shell? Inspiration is not a result of anything isolated or singular. Like life, it’s everything and anything that counts. Take the time, absorb the experience, internalize it, learn from it, show that you can take it and, finally, do your best to pass it on to the next person.

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REARVIEW MIRROR

‘

PUNJAB YOUTH FESTIVAL October ‘12 Pessimists keep moaning about the millions spent on the Punjab Youth Festival and claimed it completely a waste of money. Some called it a desperate political attempt by the PML-N to attract the young voters but if we start focusing the brighter side of the event as the citizen of Pakistan I am sure we will definitely get a bigger picture of the event.

What I was seeing was 42,813 citizens coming together singing Pakistan’s National Anthem with great enthusiasm. 24,200 Pakistani’s engaged together to form the largest Human Flag ever which is a concrete symbol of the hopes of the nation. Noman Anjum and Muhammad Mansha were not plugging wires or making chapattis, actually it was a excellent show of their skills. Muhammad Saadi was not pulling a truck with his moustache; but it was a proof of his strength to the world by pulling an entire nation behind him.

This festival provides our youth a life time experience and it was the demonstration to the whole world that we are ready to serve our country in every possible way. This whole festival was the embodiment of all that love and passion Pakistani youth carry for its beloved nation.

Gareth Deaves, Guinness world record’s judge says that it was “memorable experience” to be the part of such a wonderful youth gathering.

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On September 20, 2012 “Gangnam Style,”

by South Korean rapper Psy, was acknowledged by guinness world records as “the most likes on YouTube” with 2,141,758 likes!

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Pakistani, t he man ome rain o r shine ach the Wa gah e flag cerem Borony (for ears), pass ed away

ot Yousafzai was sh ck by tribal mem n that she had bee western culture er peers

ical cyp o r t a s a w y d n a Hurricane S portions d te c e ff a ly e r e v clone that se ntic and la t -A id M , n a e b of the Carib States. d e it n U n r te s a e North

Apple so ld out its smartph one with current m million p ieces sol ore than 5 d in the t days it hi hree t the mar ket

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7 Heavens 7 Deadly Sins 7 Kings of Rome 7 Crazy Friends

By Hamza Qureshi, a.k.a. Apollo, a genius studying in the School of Science and Engineering at LUMS

’

After dropping his sandwich with the buttered side down, he recalls, he "instantly reached" for the "R2" controller button he had been using to retrieve items within PlayStation games. "My middle finger twitched, trying to reach it," he told the researchers. This and other such weird events where someone acts as if he were in the game but in reality, he is in a real world, have been and are being reported by maniacal gamers who spend a big proportion of their lives in a digital space we refer to as a modern video game.

The idea of spilling games into reality; the idea that at some point in our lives, we experience what in fact is not actually there and we find ourselves doing what we do in video games in real life, has been very recently termed as “Game transfer phenomenon (GTP)�. It is the transfer of video game contents into the real outside world – hence the name. For instance one who plays tetris is very likely to observe bathroom tiles that are trembling or falling brief cases as falling tiles in the game itself!

Most of us are gamers now. otype of a guy living in h basement on a diet of Ch coke is long gone.

Gaming industry is prett pandemic these days as is the stats above. But wh causes this to happen. It is to say that better and bett cards and more and mor graphics are letting this ha often than we are prepared or like to think about – tha advancement in technolog just about moving joysticks anymore - thanks to the Nin and the Xbox Kinect, phys ments that replicate the rea volved.

. The sterehis parents' heetos and

ty much a s shown by hat exactly reasonable ter gaming re realistic appen more d to manage anks to the gy. It is not s and mice ntendo Wii sical moveality are in-

Most researchers are agreed over the fact that GTP is the well-known consequence of engaging in a repetitive task. Chances are you have experienced this yourself, most commonly after a long day of driving, when you can see the road moving in front of you as you close your eyes. The brief reality excursions that characterize GTP usually take place in broad daylight in the middle of other activities.

In some instances of GTP, two or more senses are involuntarily and automatically scrambled.

Sophisticated and advanced game playing has a considerable effect on the players – good one this time! They often score well on tests of recognition and perception. Besides, they too have been found with quite developed

hand-eye coordination and visual perception. But this should not come as a surprise as our brain is constantly rewiring itself. Every time it learns something new it makes a new connection, rewiring itself in the process.

These connections get reinforced by repetition. For example, when an experienced driver approaches a set of traffic lights and they turn red, the driver does not have to think about changing gear, braking and so on. New drivers, by contrast, must consider each step. So in the case of our gamers, their ‘game connections’ get reinforced to a degree that they experience their lasting effects even when they are not inside a game! However, our brain gets stumped when it switches places or ideas instantly and therefore switching from game to real world and back in an oscillatory way is not going to do any good. Our brain is used to dealing with one reality at a time, hence GTP is simply not a good idea.

It seems as if before long the only test that could establish whether one is in a game or not would depend on a simple fact that life does not give second chances!

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COVER STORY

,

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Farhan Saeed Butt (left) giving an interview to iE Chief Editor Ziad Bashir (right)

1. You are academically a computer engineer! 4. Who was your inspiration in th What made you change your field from engi- dustry? From Pakistan? From abro neering to music?

I have liked different artists and genre Yes I’m a computer engineer. I became part of Jal during my second year at university. Though I completed my degree, which of course was very tough since I was travelling locally and internationally with the band very frequently, I never pursued a career in engineering. So, I wouldn’t say I changed my field to music, it’s something that just happened to me.

stages of my life, ranging from hea ghazals. So I had different inspiration times. But to name a few consistent Fateh Ali khan and Jagjit Singh.

Having a career in computer science mostly means having to work in a company/under someone. My music requires me to travel a lot and stay away from my hometown for months at a stretch many a times.

I don’t think any employer would be too happy about that. I can’t afford to be employed by anyone.

But even though I don’t have a career in CS, I do have businesses that I own, so in a way I do have multiple careers.

yourself in after several years. Jal was life for nearly a decade, and something lot and would always mean a lot to me. to explore a wider horizon that I could being in a band. My solo career is my j fining myself as a musician and discov am actually capable of doing.

There are many artists that I look up to. Basically, anyone who has made/makes music that you can’t help but get absorbed into it has been/is a source of inspiration.

Like I just mentioned, music is just li profession: it’s okay to quit working at and start working at another; you aren’t n’t be bound to the same employers o for life.

5. Aadat, boondh are both such gre ments of Jal. But that is a matter What made you pursue a solo car 2. Why didn’t you think about keeping both CS we just love this question. and music in your life? Many other musicians Music is a profession, and just like any have multiple careers too. sional, you want to break out of a rut

6. Vital Signs parted, Awaz parte people with overlapping dreams e 3. Who was your inspiration in the music in- ing apart and working in isolation? dustry?

It’s not about drifting apart and workin

he music inoad?

es at different avy metal to ns at different ones: Nusrat

eat achieveof the past. reer? Sorry,

other profesthat you find s a part of my g that meant a . But I wanted d not do while journey of devering what I

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ng in isolation. ike any other one company t, and shouldor workspace

Farhan and his 6-year old nephew Fardeen

7. Ae khuda by Adnan Tere Rang by Abrar-u Hamd or a Qalaam by F

Of course you can, why n something like that in the

8. Any regrets related t

It’s always best to look something went wrong in because I’m a firm believ reason’.

9. We heard about yo Bollywood flick “Dil T about this venture?

The composer of the song a while ago and offered m The song was something agreed to do it.

10. How does singing for a Bollywood film compare to releasing a single in Pakistan?

The two are almost incomparable since the two are completely different ballgames altogether. Bollywood is a very serious business that feeds a huge number of families, and has a significant amount of competition within it, even though it has a very big following as a whole. The stakeholders make sure they promote the artist/product in every way they can in order to achieve their goals. A lot of people’s success depends on your success. So basically, artists receive a much bigger platform to begin with and hardly have anything to worry about once their product is ready. On the contrary, the music business is not as serious and competitive in Pakistan, because of which artists are mainly ‘one-man-armies’ and have to almost do everything on their own.

11. Any other offers from India in the pipeline ?

Sami, Allah ho by Fakhir and Yes, I have worked on several projects in India, and you all will be able to see them in the near future. u-haq, can we expect a Naat, Farhan Saeed in future? not. I would love to come up with 12. In the past Artists had to put in a lot of efforts to promote their work & publicize upcoming e future. events & tours but now you have the likes of Facebook and Twitter. How does that change your life? to the past?

ahead and not behind. Even if n the past, I have no regrets for it, ver of ‘everything happens for a

our song “Kyun Gayi” for the Tenu Karda Ae Pyar”. Tell us

g, Jai Dev, made me hear the song me to sing its unplugged version. g that I loved instantly, and so I

The internet, social media in particular, has indeed revolutionized the music scene. It has made it much easier for an artist to reach a larger audience. For instance, Aadat came out at a time when this all was starting, and it basically became very popular just through the internet even before its official release. But the banning of YouTube has been a major setback for Pakistani artists as now it is very hard for us to reach our Pakistani audience. There are alternatives like daily motion etc., but they aren’t as popular , so they split your audience. And let’s face it, since our music channels aren’t as popular anymore, the only way to judge the success of a song is by the views it receives, and the likes/dislikes. When the views of your home country don’t even show up anymore, it harms the stats.

13. What’s the craziest or randomest thing a fan has ever said (done :P) to you? There must be something that was just- off the charts. …and should stay off records, LOL.

14. Oh c’mon, we want to hear it. We see that some of your fans have made fake accounts on Facebook, with the display picture and cover photo as yours…

17. Where do you see yourself in 2020?

I am not a very good planner, so can’ about it. But I’d definitely want to be su most, if not all, of my endeavors.

18. What do you think are the ch tics of an ideal women, someone w get your admiration for sure?

*laughing* Oh, that’s totally normal.

Character means more to me than bea thing else.

15. These days, we see a lot of amateur singers making it big with their debut singles – latest example being of Ali Gul Pir with “Wadeiray ka beta”. What do you think about that?

19. Do you have some weird feti flicks? French fries dipped in ic Washing hands with a lemon soa lunch every Thursday? :P

Like I said, YouTube has provided artists, or basically anyone, be it a teacher, entertainer, or even a politician with a much larger audience, and the judging criteria for success is popularity (views it receives). I think it’s great that people are sharing with others what they like or find entertaining. At the end of the day, it comes down to what the audience is appreciating, and not all entertainment videos necessarily have to count as ‘singing’ or ‘music’. If someone is getting the exposure they want, I’m very happy for them. After all, amateurs have to make it big to not be counted as amateurs anymore.

Not that I know of.

20. What's the most interesting t pening in your life right now?

I’m getting to spend time with my nep are visiting from the US.

21. What do you think about the in Pakistan?

Not as harsh as the paparazzi in other co

22. Great, and your fans? What w 16. Why hasn't Farhan Saeed married yet? like to say to them and iE readers?

Doesn't your mother (like most moms who ing message. want grandkids) bug you about it?

Haha of course she does, but I think this point in time for me isn’t the ideal to get married. Maybe a few years down the road, who knows?

For us musicians, there is one really thing:

Keep loving and supporting good

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Photographer: Usama Nasir Interview designed by Shaf Yonus, ambassador@Ideas E Photography by MinusTwo Productions (MinusTwo productions is the Media Wing of Ideas Evolved)

Special Thanks to Ali Mirza, for setting up the interview Location: Gloria Jeans @LUMS

Evolved

& shoot

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ENTERTAINMENT

By Momin Ahmed The innocuous pop-culture critic And our ambassador at University of Toronto

A REVIEW

‘Looper’ is a film I purposefully stayed away from to avoid spoilers. The hype surrounding it was unbearable and it actually lives up to most of it.

The film is set in a world where time-travel is used to dispose off bodies. Only problem is, the hit men, known as loopers, must one day face the fact they will have to kill their future self.

You need to leave your brain at the door, or at least logic, to go along with the plot, which is engrossing but soon switches paths to deal with other science fiction conventions. Some of the effects are mesmerizing, and Gordon Levitt's Bruce Willis impersonation is spot-on. Seeing the two characters battle with their past and future, but knowing neither is written in stone makes for an intriguing tragedy that gradually builds.

Joe (Gordon-Levitt) is a looper, stashing away his money so that he can eventually retire. It's a lucrative job, but there is one problem: Eventually, the loopers inevitably have to kill the future version of themselves. They don't even know it, usually, till the job is done. It's called closing the loop, and it sets the clock ticking on the rest of the looper's life.

Eventually, of course, Joe must close the loop. When his future self, played by Willis, arrives for assassination without the hood the victims usually wear, recognition flashes in their eyes and, in that moment of hesitation, future Joe gets away. Present-day Joe knows he has to catch and kill him; of course, future Joe knows this too and doesn't plan on letting that happen.

While chasing future Joe, present-day Joe also has to run from Abe and his goons. He hides out at a farmhouse where Sara (Emily Blunt) is raising her son, Cid (Pierce Gagnon), who is hiding one hell of a secret.

Good thing. "Looper" requires your attention, though in an enjoyable way. Gordon-Levitt has been so terrific for a while now that he's become a magnetic presence. The movies’ story has some nice twists; it, too, closes the loop in a surprising and satisfying fashion.

The best advice is to not overthink "Looper," just sit back and enjoy it.

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DECONSTRUCT

BLACK & AMERICA WHITE As at 4th November 2012

They call it ‘election year’. But the elections are only two days away now (at least as and when I am writing this article). Also they don’t look for the slightest excuse to postpone elections so we can safely assume that the elections will be on time, as per schedule on the 6th of November as has been the tradition for so many years, sandy or no sandy. The only way they’ll ever postpone elections is if the world ends, so yeah global warming is quite an election issue.

Is anyone still wondering which elections I’m talking about?

It’s the American presidential one, stupid!

(Yeah the line is based on Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign phrase ‘It’s the economy, stupid’.

Thought I’d explain.)

Democracy (Ayub-style)

It affects you too, okay?

So how does it work, yes with the electoral college and all. No, its nothing like our system and our elections which are based on the British model of representative democracy. The American Presidential system works similarly to the presidential system General Ayub Khan introduced in Pakistan through the 1962 constitution (at least the election bit).

Even if you don’t hold an American passport, the American elections are very likely to affect you or me as well. On issues like immigration (for those of us who wish and yearn to fly off to the States) and especially foreign policy (drones are a part of it, so the PTI is definitely involved. Both candidates support the strikes though but hey what’s the harm in following a debate, right?). This also includes the amount and distribution of aid…so the very existence and well-being of our country is at stake, people!!

Basically you don’t vote for the president, rather you vote for a member of the elector college from your state. Each American state has a number of electoral college votes allotted to it and winning a majority in one state allows you to carry all the electoral votes of the state. The states have different number of votes starting from 3 for the smaller to numbers in excess of 50 for the state of California (which just by the way, is considered a Democrat or to say it the American way – a solid ‘blue’ state).

Oh and just another note, the US presidential election is not a popularity contest. In fact you can actually lose the popular vote and still become president. Our very own, the beloved George W. Bush was the last person to have accomplished this feat after winning the elections even as he lost the popular vote to the then Democratic party candidate Vice President Al-Gore. How you ask? By winning the state of Florida and all its electoral votes by a margin of mere 537 votes. And thus world peace and the American budget went to the dogs( President Bush’s greatest legacy apart from the Iraq war is the massive deficit America is struggling to cope with now. Democrats love to mention that when Clinton left office, America was showing a healthy surplus.)

Let the States go blue!

Yeah you guessed it, I do indeed support the incumbent President and hope the States does go blue on the 6th of November, for the sake of its deficit, its poor people, immigrant communities and the gay people. Here’s to four more years of Michelle Obama photo sessions. As for the republicans in the audience, best of luck for 2016.

Written by Farhan Saad Ahmed Farhan recently graduated from LUMS with am Economics and Politics major and currently works at Starcom Mediavest Pakistan as a media buyer. He yearns to go back to college life.

EDITOR’S PICK

SUPERNATURAL A REVIEW

One of the seasons that most caught my fancy was Supernatural. The tragic and exciting story of two brothers who lose their mother in a demonic attack in their childhood: their father swearing upon his life to get back at the demon; and hence get caught up in a gory, emotional and twisty life of being demon hunters: the life they inherit from their father. Hence begins their life of hunting demons, vampires, werewolves, and all other strange creatures from folklore that haunt our worst nightmares (or not even those).

Demon deals with the devil, angels interfering in their lives, and trading souls for the lives of loved ones are just some of the themes of this highly fascinating season. Even though highly violent and sometimes just icky; the themes of family values, brotherly love, platonic relationships and blood before all else is highly commendable. How relationships change over time, how the best of intentions can lead to betrayal and the emotions of lost loved ones and lost love are just some of the things a viewer feels in this highly rated TV show.

Sam and Dean Winchester, are quite the heartthrobs, undoubtedly (from a female perspective). The two brothers playing the protagonists display very different traits: one is the tall, socially awkward geeky sort who has the smarts for the books and is rational in his approach, this would be Sam; the younger brother. Dean is more robust; more in-your-face, tough, and with a blatant disregard for consequences. The two make a motley crew: and yet an unbeatable team in the face of adversity. When one’s in trouble the other always comes by to take him out of it.

Other prominent characters include John Winchester, the father of the Winchester Brothers. Bobby Singer, their father’s friend and almost a father to the boys.

Whilst other characters keep on coming and going, and sometimes come and go for good. The plot starts small, with one death: and by the end of Season 5 and 6 reaches global proportions. For anyone who enjoys a good season and can appreciate good screenwriting and directorship when he sees it, Supernatural is definitely a must watch.

Editor out.

By Ahmed Zafar Editor

g n li

b a n

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