Cell Phone Comparison Blog

Hold down the sleep button for five seconds to restrart the phone.

I would put the brightness really low

Enjoy the convenience and peace of mind

“Pay as you go” service is the other name for prepaid mobile service.  In this method you can save money by paying only for the minutes you use. There are no hassles of annual contracts or surprise bills. Some services are available even without age restrictions offering complete freedom from stress as far as mobile phone bills go.  Pay as you go phones are overwhelmingly patronized all over the world because of the simplicity of the method that requires you to buy the prepaid cards in advance and use it within a stipulated period.  You have to renew the account by adding credit before the expiry of this card or you may lose the remaining credit.  This fair and straight forward nature of the pay as you go method of bill payment is the reason behind its popularity far and wide. 

Virgin Mobile- Kyocera Wild Card Pay As You Go Cell Phone

This mobile phone comes with 3 hours talk time, TFT LCD screen, built-in 1.3 mega pixel camera, built-in alphanumeric keypad and super phonic ring tones apart from other regular features.

T-Mobile Samsung T329 Pay As You Go Cell Phone

This gray colored phone has up to 385 minutes talk time, TFT LCD display, and built-in digital camera with 4 x zoom, vibration alert, text, multimedia and instant messaging.

Motorola F3

This is a mobile phone that has a great feature that automatically reports the status of your pay as you go account after each all or message letting you to be in complete control of your mobile usage. There is a Clearvision display in Motorola F3 that provides you high contrast screen which you can view clearly even in bright sun light.  It uses a newly redesigned user interface that is easy to use.  All other functionalities like music, messaging, memory, organizer and other capabilities are retained like in all pay as you go phones.

Dharmendra Chaudhary
http://www.articlesbase.com/cell-phones-articles/npay-as-you-go-2o-stress-mobile-phones-638905.html

No doubt, the cell phones are more popular as compared to the landline services but still the landline phones have an edge over mobile phones in a few aspects. The landline or the fixed line telephone travel through a solid medium which can either be a metal wire or the optical fibre.

The advantages with a landline services are that it costs less and have a better voice quality. In addition to this, it can be used where mobile phones can’t be used and can increase the security of communications that can’t be intercepted by a receiver without the physical line access.

Almost all the major cable companies supply the landlines in the UK. Some of the major landlines providers are Talk Talk, BT, NTL, Telecom Plus, Telewest, cable and wireless, world online and Alpha telecom .You have to pay line rentals and the call charges to such companies. There is a plan called ‘wholesale line rental’ with which you can switch to a new landline supplier. The switching will not involve any work with the phone line and you can also keep the existing number.

The UK landline suppliers often offer special deals for certain services and products like calls to mobile phones, long-distance calls or deals combining a landline with the cable TV and the internet access.

There are various comparison sites on the Internet which can provide you the information regarding the price and the plans for the landline services providers. However, before going for any deals you should prioritise your needs and then look for the deal which can suit your needs in the best possible way.

Adam Jaylin
http://www.articlesbase.com/communication-articles/landline-services-inexpensive-and-better-voice-quality-174398.html

It’s time you know what the latest technological gadget is. In
fact, this new toy is buzzing everywhere nowadays. PDA cell
phones are popping up more and more in the market place. Young
or old, maybe you should be asking yourself whether this new
cellular phone is something you should consider owning? Well, if
you’re unsure about whether a PDA mobile phone is the right
piece of hardware for you, don’t be. Read on and find out
everything you need to know about these great wireless phones!
Many consumers understand the value of owning a mobile phone
today. They are really convenient and easy to use. We almost
take them for granted because they’re extremely affordable to
own and maintain. They come with tons of loaded features to help
make our lives that much easier. They store phone numbers and
addresses, can link you to the Internet, can download your email
on a whim, and allow you to chat on Instant Messenger with your
closest loved ones whenever you want. Bored? Not when you own a
cellular phone, equipped with the latest games, cool polyphonic
ring tones, and picture messaging. Use it to take notes, and
keep you up to date with important meetings. There is simply
nothing that a cell phone cannot do nowadays. They even take
pictures and video images – and to think, these nifty little
toys can be held, literally, in the palm of your hand. Well, the
newest trend to hit our palms is the PDA wireless phone – better
known as a personal digital assistant. Imagine combining the
convenience of a cell phone with the reliability of a PDA – it’s
a match made in heaven! Here’s why. First of all, PDA’s are very
portable. You can take them anywhere! They fit in your purse,
briefcase, even your own pocket. They’re also very durable, so
they’re built to last! PDA’s are also pretty inexpensive these
days. You can get yourself a pretty decent and affordable
personal digital assistant for about $150. Once you get one,
you’ll realize just how amazing these devices really are! These
awesome gadgets store your personal and professional
information, at the touch of a button! Wireless PDA’s are also
programmable. You can run the most popular of applications on a
palm pilot, allowing you to interact with your home or office
computer. You can store documents, graphics, notes – the
possibilities are endless, and transferring information from one
medium to another is a breeze! What does it mean when you
combine the power of a PDA with a mobile phone? Pure magic!
There are many companies offering this innovative product. Check
it out! PalmOne makes a PDA cell phone that makes it easier than
ever for consumers to keep their business and personal life in
order without all the excess bulk! Remember, these phones are
compatible with either Macs or PCs, making it simple for you to
download information when you need it the most. Key features on
these types of phones include a mini “qwerty” keyboard for
typing notes, Bluetooth technology, USB capability, and lithium
powered batteries. Many of these PDA mobiles also include MP3
features! It’s all you’ll ever need to get through your day with
ease! Many people may even consider getting rid of their mobile
phones and replacing it with these new PDA cell phones. If you
think about it, you really don’t need much else! Tons of
Americans walk around with briefcases or purses full of gadgets
that only store a certain type of information. At one time, a
cell phone was used primarily to make or receive calls. Now,
times have changed. Long gone are the days when mobiles were
bulky, heavy, and inadequate. As you may know, cell phones have
marked their way into the world today, helping millions of
people get what they need in their professional and personal
lives. Not only do cell phones help us when we’re in a bind,
they keep us well in tuned with the world. We can access the
daily news, read our horoscopes, check movie listings, and so
much more. Keep your address book updated with your contacts.
Store email addresses, contact names, phone numbers – the sky is
the limit! In fact, there’s nothing a cell phone can’t do these
days! Without a doubt, cellular phones definitely enhance our
lives. They can notify us when we have an important meeting or
date coming up. You’ll never forget a friend or loved one’s
birthday again! They come equipped with cool features, such as
unique ring tones, games, and colour screens. Want to get
online? No problem! You can picture message your friends, send
text messages on the fly, even go online and download your email
messages. These features come in handy, especially when
travelling. In fact, many mobiles today are designed to be used
anywhere around the world! So, there’s no need to worry about
bringing a day planner or agenda to keep track of your to do
list. A cell phone is all you need! Now, you can enjoy the
convenience and affordability of combining your heavily used and

much needed cell phone with a practicality of a PDA or portable
hand held system. Look around – you’ll soon see that many
popular cellular phone carriers are carrying PDA cell phones,
all equipped with different, but important features. In fact,
customers can pick and choose which PDA phone best suits their
needs. It’s all too simple! However, one thing is clear – owning
a PDA mobile is an effective way to keep your business sorted.
Imagine just how much information these powerful tools store!
Cell phones are extremely practical but their downside is that
they can only store so much information! For example, most
mobile phones come with phone books that store between 100-500
contact entries. Certainly not enough when you’re building a
list of personal and professional contacts. Having a PDA cell
phone is like carrying around a mini computer in your pocket and
the possibilities are surely endless! While it can’t fix your
family meals every night or make the kids go to bed, it will
keep you and your family extremely organized and in tune with
what’s going on day to day! While a PDA cellular phone is used
primarily for professional use, take advantage of the many fun
features it has to offer. If you ever wanted to own an MP3
player, there’s no need to buy one on its own! Some PDA mobiles
come with a Windows Media Player device to keep you occupied
with your favourite tunes during the day! If you’re travelling
and are looking to maximize your time, surf the Internet. Even
better, catch up on your emails! It’s like taking your office on
the road, wherever you go, whenever you go! If you’re worried
about using your PDA too much – don’t! Many PDA cell phones will
give you somewhere along the lines of 250 minutes of talk time
and 240 hours of standby time. Keeping spare chargers and a base
charger is always convenient to ensure that you’ll never go
without your phone when you need it the most! You’ll enjoy
typical features, such as a speakerphone, vibrating ringers,
text capability, and Internet options. Connect using Outlook,
and you’ll never have to search for a phone number or email
address again! Store it once and forget about it! For those
individuals who are constantly travelling and on the road or in
the sky, a PDA mobile phone makes sense. It’s the perfect gift
and travel companion! Sometimes, it can be difficult to take a
break from your day to find an Internet café or office that will
allow you to connect and check your email and important
messages. Now, imagine being able to access your information
from anywhere in the world! You could be having dinner, in a
car, or in between meetings, and you’ll never miss those
important messages ever again! It’s important to note, your PDA
cell phone contains the Internet, which will allow you to surf
the web. So, now you can book your hotel reservations, find a
phone number for a taxi, look for a restaurant in your area -
it’s all possible without having to exhaust other options! Sync
your phone with your laptop, and access your work, no matter
where you are. Access flight information with the touch of a
button! Get movie listings and find out where some of the best
attractions are when you’re visiting a new town. It’s obvious
that owning a PDA cell phone has its advantages. Remember, PDA
phones are extremely lightweight and portable. So much power for
such a tiny device – and to think, many phones will give you the
option to add more memory if you need it, for additional
storage! It’s also good to know that many companies will also
throw in extra cellular accessories, such as a headset, leather
case, belt clip or hand strap. These always come in handy to
protect and maintain the look of your equipment. They’re also
very suitable when on the road. Having a headset allows you to
use your phone while on the road keeping you safe as you drive
with both hands on the wheel! If you’re going to use your phone
on the road while driving, at least be safe! Be conscious of
yourself and the other drivers around you! It doesn’t stop
there! You can upgrade to a Bluetooth headset, or consider
buying an extra adapter, charger, or magnet mount antenna set.
You could also consider getting a starter kit that comes with
the essentials to make the most out of your PDA cellular phone.
One thing is for sure. The rave about PDA cell phones is
sweeping the nation. Stop and think for a moment. Many people
carry around more than one of the following – a cell phone, an
agenda or journal, a PDA system, a camera, an MP3 player. Well,
all you need is the PDA mobile! It will replace all of these
rather expensive items and provide for its consumers the
convenience of owning the best all-in-one device to ever hit the
market!

Caitlin Crosain
http://www.articlesbase.com/communication-articles/pda-cell-phones-the-new-generation-of-wireless-phones-707.html

A pixel is a single point in a graphic image. The more pixels used to represent an image, the closer the result can resemble the original. The number of pixels in an image is sometimes called the resolution, though resolution has a more specific definition. Pixel counts can be expressed as a single number, as in a “three-megapixel” digital camera, which has a nominal three million pixels.

A megapixel is 1 million pixels, and is used not only for the number of pixels in an image, but also often to express the number of sensor elements of digital cameras. For example, a camera with an array of 2048×1536 sensor elements is commonly said to have “3.1 megapixels” (2048×1536 = 3,145,728).

Thus the more Megapixels; results in a larger higher quality image. So you would want to go for a camera with a megapixel display that is 1.2 megapixels or higher. Right now, a really good phone would have around a 2.0 megapixel camera or greater. I haven’t seen any with a megapixel display greater than 3.1 as yet.

My advice… Go for the Motorola V3X that is a good phone with a 2.0 megapixel camera with flash and 8 x zoom.

I’m not aware of any prepaid plans that offer an option through the plan to directly download pictures to your computer. I believe that your best bet would be to determine what phone would allow you to connect it to your computer via USB cable and has PC Suite, for example, and then use the phone’s software to download the pictures to your computer. For example, you can purchase a special USB cable for the Motorola Razor that will allow you to connect it to your computer. You can charge it that way and also download the contacts and pictures to your computer.

If your cell phone has Bluetooth, you can also purchase a Bluetooth USB Adapter (Iogear makes one, model GBU221P) that will allow you to use Bluetooth to connect to your computer.

To my knowledge, the cell phone providers do not sell the phones with these cables. You would need to purchase the cable from the cell phone company or a third-party provider. I purchased my Iogear Bluetooth adapter at Best Buy.

The cell phone providers want you to use their wireless service to send pictures, because they charge you either a monthly fee for a specific amount of kilobytes or typically $0.02 per kilobyte for this service.

The answers to your questions are dependent on the phone you choose, to generalize most camera phones do have the capability to transfer picture to PC. You may have to purchase a cable as an extra or it may come with the phone, it depends. Depending on how you transfer you picture from phone to phone, e.g. sending them as a picture message (you will be charged for this) or via Bluetooth (this is free), will determine how much it cost.

You do not have to pay for a text service to be able to use the camera, but if you want to send them on then you will. Once again photo quality and format is very much dependant on the phone, most Nokia phones have reasonable quality cameras and save pictures as .jpg in 640×480. With the quality of Lithium batteries these days I would not worry about the phone running low due to camera use, most models will last at least 48 hours before dying! It’s a good habit to charge a phone over night anyway so no problem there.

Most camera phones that take photos in 640×480 can store about 600 picas, if you can use a memory card like i do with my Nokia 7710 u can potentially store around 10000, but that a bit excessive! Depending on how much you spend on the phone will depend on the quality; if you can I would advise you to go for a Nokia, as they are extremely user friendly.

Victor Epand
http://www.articlesbase.com/cell-phones-articles/camera-phones-and-how-to-download-80235.html

iPod is a brand of portable media players that is designed and marketed by Apple and was launched on October 23, 2001. Since October 2004, iPod sales have dominated the market for digital music players in the United States.

Devices in the iPod range are primarily digital music players, designed around a central click wheel although the iPod shuffle has buttons only.

The full-sized model stores media on an internal hard drive, while the smaller iPod nano and iPod shuffle use flash memory. Like many digital audio players, iPods can also serve as external data storage devices.

In addition to playing music, iPods with display screens can display calendars, contact information, and text files, and play a limited range of video games. Models introduced in 2004 include the ability to display photos and the fifth-generation iPod, introduced in 2005, can additionally play video files. In January 2007, Apple announced the iPhone, combining the features of a video-capable iPod with integrated mobile phone and mobile internet capabilities.

Apples iTunes software is used for transferring music (as well as photos, videos, games, contacts and calendars, for models that support those features). As a free jukebox application, iTunes stores a comprehensive library of music on the users computer and can play, burn, and rip music from a CD. It can also sync photos and videos.

History and Design:

The iPod came from Apple digital hub strategy, as the company began creating software for the growing market of digital devices being purchased by consumers. While digital cameras, camcorders and organizers had well-established mainstream markets, the company found digital music players lacking in user interface design and decided to develop its own.

The name was proposed by Vinnie Chieco, a freelance copywriter, who (with others) was called by Apple to figure out how to introduce the new player to the public. As soon as Chieco saw a prototype for the player he thought of the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey and the phrase: “Open the pod bay door, Hal!”, which refers to the white EVA Pods of the Discovery One spaceship. At that time “iPod” was a name that Apple registered for Internet kiosks, but never put to use.

Apple hardware engineering chief Jon Rubinstein assembled a team of engineers to design it, including Tony Fadell, Stan Ng and Jonathan Ive. Additionally, Sparkfactor Design has designed some of the iPod hardware from 2002-2004. They developed the product in less than a year and it was unveiled on October 23, 2001. CEO Steve Jobs announced it as a Mac-compatible product with a 5 GB hard drive that put “1000 songs in your pocket.”

Uncharacteristically, Apple did not develop the iPods software entirely in-house. Instead, Apple began with PortalPlayer reference platform which was based on 2 ARM cores. The platform used rudimentary software running on a commercial microkernel embedded operating system. PortalPlayer had previously been working on an IBM-branded MP3 player with Bluetooth headphones. Apple contracted another company, Pixo, to help design and implement the user interface, under the direct supervision of Steve Jobs.

Once established, Apple continued to refine the software look and feel. Starting with the iPod mini, the Chicago font (once used on early Macintosh computers) was replaced with Espy Sans, which was originally used in eWorld and Copland. Later iPods switched fonts again to Podium Sans, a font similar to Apple corporate font Myriad. The iPods with color displays then adopted some Mac OS X themes like Aqua progress bars, as well as brushed metal in the lock interface.

User interface:

Apple focused its development on the iPod’s unique user interface and its ease of use, rather than on technical capability. The iPod is currently the world’s best-selling range of digital audio players and its worldwide mainstream adoption makes it one of the most popular consumer brands. Some of Apple’s design choices and proprietary actions have, however, led to criticism and legal battles.

The iPods with color displays use high quality anti-aliased graphics and text, with sliding animations. These iPods have five buttons and the newer generations have the buttons integrated into the click wheel an innovation which gives an uncluttered, minimalistic interface.

The buttons are:

Menu to traverse backwards through the menus, and toggle the backlight on older iPods when held
Center to select a menu item
Play / Pause which doubles as an off switch when held
Fast Forward (When held)/ Skip Forward
Fast Reverse (When held)/ Skip Backwards

The operations such as scrolling through menu items and controlling the volume are performed by using the click wheel in a rotational manner. These iPods also have a Hold switch at the top, which prevents accidental button presses.

Newer iPods automatically pause playback when the headphones are unplugged from the headphone jack, but playback does not resume when the headphones are re-inserted.

However, in newer iPods (excluding iPod shuffles), when the headphones are re-inserted into the headphone jack when the iPod is asleep, the iPod will automatically wake up to the last screen viewed before going to sleep. An iPod that has crashed or frozen can be reset by switching ‘Hold’ on then off, then holding Menu and Center (Menu and Play on the 3G iPod) for 6 seconds.

The iPod shuffle does not use a click wheel and instead has five buttons positioned differently to the larger models. It has a Play / Pause button in the center, surrounded by four buttons: Volume Up / Down and Skip Forward / Backwards. This button arrangement is shared by the Apple Remote (which ships with all Apple computers with Front Row and the Universal Dock).

anonymous
http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/the-emergence-of-portable-media-players-ipod-106089.html

(For additional articles written by me please visit my blog on http://www.readitlive.com )

I have met many people in my life, but I’ve met no one like Sitara.

That spring of 2001, I was one of the last passengers to get off flight PK 724. The rush had mostly cleared off the airport. Dragging the luggage behind me, I pushed my glasses up my nose and strained my eyes. I’d never actually been to my parents’ homeland before but I’d seen enough pictures of my Pakistani family to recognize her, standing by the railing, looking directly at me and smiling.

Fariha and Altaf Hamid had decided to migrate to the US back in the 1970’s, when everyone was leaving Pakistan in search of better opportunities. Starting as modest clinical psychiatrists in a community hospital in Saint Louis, Missouri, they now owned the best psychiatric hospital in town. And I was their son, their only child.

Once in the US, my parents had gotten stuck in the mechanical life, like bearings in a machine. They worked hard at their careers, built a home, had a child and opened a hospital. They just never had time, a reason or even family to come back to. My father was the only child and my mother had one sister, whose daughter was now waiting for me beyond the glass doors of the arrival hall. Even though I was born and raised in America, ‘The Promised Land’ where people have it all, I had always felt like there was something missing in my life. I’d never been able to put my finger on it, and that was exactly why I had flown 16 hours that day.
“I’m a star. You?” were Sitara’s first words as she greeted me, smiling mischievously, showing a perfect set of white teeth.

“I’m a fan,” I said, half amazed, half confused, not really sure how to answer that. That was not the kind of greeting I had expected from a Pakistani girl.

Once on the streets of Lahore, I could not believe what I saw; wide four-laned roads with a river of cars flowing from one side to the other, huge billboards displaying all kinds of consumer accessories and buildings that weren’t exactly skyscrapers, but certainly had more than two or three floors.

“I thought America had billboards, too,” Sitara said, probably noticing me gawking out of the window with a slightly opened mouth, which I closed immediately, realizing I must have been looking like a fool.

“Yeah, of course, America has billboards. I just didn’t know Pakistan did, too,” I said, momentarily taking my eyes off the road and looking at her. “Where are the donkeys?”

“The Donkeys?” she inquired, as if wanting the name of a specific one, so that she could provide me with an address and phone number.

“Yeah, mom told me there are donkeys and horses with carts strapped to their backs out on the streets. I was really looking forward to meeting them!” I explained.

Sitara chuckled childishly and said, “At this time of the night, they’re probably sleeping. Poor souls don’t have the cable or internet to keep ‘em up.”

“I have a feeling you were expecting a twenty years younger version of Pakistan,” she added after a slight pause.

“Yeah, that’s what mom told me,” I said sheepishly, slightly ashamed of my lack of knowledge of the world outside the US.

“Well boy, you’re in for some surprises!” she said and stepped on the accelerator, hitting 100 km/h on the wide, street-lit road.

The twenty minute drive from the airport to Khala Jee’s place was all the time Sitara needed to find her comfort zone with me. Shy at first, not knowing what to say to a Pakistani girl who was so different from my expectations, I soon relaxed as she told me how different I was from what she had pictured. Apparently, I had to have multi-colored hair, a tattoo on my shoulder and pants torn at the knees to qualify as an ABCD (American Born Confused Desi.)

“Hello, meet Kitty,” she said, introducing me to my first family and home in Pakistan, “She’s my cat. She’ll be in charge of cleaning your bones. No no, not your bones, the bones of the chicks and goats you eat, once you’re done with them that is, or maybe before that, too. Sometimes she tends to jump on the table and insists on eating with us. Here, meet Sara, she’s fourteen and without a doubt the proudest nerd of the world. She feels honoured to tell everyone her glasses are a centimeter thick! And here’s Saad, he’s ten and very shy. Saad, say Salam to Waqas Bhai, he has chocolates in his bag and for God’s sakes stop hiding behind me!”

In the next room, I greeted Khaloo and Khala Jee, who were extremely delighted to hear me calling them Khaloo and Khala instead of Aunty and Uncle. My mother had always taught me to call my relations by their Urdu names. Khala Jee was an exceptionally beautiful woman, sharing my mother’s sharp features, only more chiseled and refined. In comparison, I thought Khaloo Jee was like any other Pakistani man, average built, wheatish complexion and graying hair. Their kids had inherited their father’s complexion with their mother’s features, making the most harmonious balance between genes that I’d ever seen.

The one month I spent in that ‘Land of the Pure’ seems one short day now, it passed so quickly. Yet I can remember each day because it was so different from the previous one. My host family left no stone unturned to make me feel at home and an important part of their family. I, in turn, did my best to help them by trying not to have diarrhea.

Sitara and I were the same age; she was actually two months older. After having graduated from college in the summer, she was taking a year off before starting university. When Khaloo and Khala Jee went to work every day and the kids to school, Sitara and I were left at home to make plans for ourselves. And every day was an adventure with her.

Sometimes we would spend the whole day cooking, mixing Sitara’s Pakistani culinary skills with the simple American cuisines I’d learnt at college, to come up with food like Pizza-handi or Macaroni and cheese biryani. Neither of us was good at it, but we had a hell of a lot of fun passing our inventions around the table at night, sometimes stifling our laughter when Khala Jee said things like, “You two should open a restaurant!” Little did she know that the masterpiece she was appreciating had been burnt three times and started from scratch again!

After a day of all the girly work, as a joke, Sitara and I would play PlayStation in the evening. I would beat her at Tekken3 and feel like a boy again.

When we went shopping, we would park the car in the parking lot and walk around the whole area. I was very fond of walking; it gave me more time to observe the things around me. Sitara on the other hand, hated it and got tired quickly, which gave us an excuse to sit at random places with a snack and have people stare at us. I guess sitting on the sidewalk, on the stairs outside a shop or the bonnet of the car wasn’t much appreciated. Sitara once dared me to talk to a shopkeeper in Urdu and ask him if I could use the washroom. What I said roughly translated to “You should go to the washroom.” I was furious at his reaction, until Sitara dragged me out of the shop, barely audible through her fit of laughter and explained to me my horrendous misuse of ‘aap’ (you) in place of ‘mein’ (me).

On weekends, we’d visit the historic places in Lahore. We’d pack a picnic basket and dine in the huge gardens of The Lahore Fort or The Shahi Qila. Sometimes Khaloo and Khala would tell us stories, how they used to come to these places very often as kids because there was no other form of entertainment. There were stories about Khala Jee losing her way once in The Badshahi Masjid and crying for hours before my mom found her, and about Khaloo being offered a candy at The Shalimar Gardens, which he had learnt as a baby not to accept from strangers. And then there were stories that Sitara told me, that I’m pretty sure had nothing to do with reality. “See those vents there?” she said, pointing at the small, barred, window-like openings at the base of the walls of Emperor Jahangir’s Tomb. “Those are dungeons that were used for prisoners. I once came here on a school trip and they opened this small trapdoor for us students to visit underground. They say Jahangir’s wife, Noor Jehan, is buried there and the place is haunted by her spirit. It smelt so strongly of roses down there it wasn’t even funny!”

Living amongst Khala Jee’s family, I soon found out that they, like any other family, were not without problems. What I admired about them was their optimism, their effort to enjoy every single day and not let their worries show. A middle class family struggling to meet its expenses in an inflation stricken economy, Khaloo Jee had taken loans to finance Sitara’s education, which he had no means to pay back. Khala Jee had been a heart patient ever since she’d lost her two year old, Adil, six years ago. I gradually noticed that Sitara was the one who kept them all up. She’d bake a cake to cheer up Sara for getting an A minus on her Math test instead of an A plus. She’d play video games with Saad and teach him how to spell words like ‘multitudinous’ or ’synthesized.’ She’d resolve differences between her parents whenever needed. Suffice it to say, she was the lifeline of that family.

Khaloo and Khala Jee were mostly busy with their jobs but whenever we got time Khaloo Jee would explain to me the economics of Pakistan. The huge influx of money, rapid development, lower interest rates, increasing job opportunities, and right when I’d conclude that all these things were good, he’d delve into the details of how all of it was hyper-inflating the economy. It was small wonder he was a banker. Khala Jee had more to ask than tell. Not having seen her sister in over twenty years, I know she missed her a lot. All she talked about was mom, stories of herself and mom as kids and our lives in the US. Sara, really was the most ardent nerd I’d ever come across. I seldom saw her around the house as she would confine herself to her room behind a fort of books. I’m not even sure if she slept at night because I never found the light in her room switched off. Maybe she kept it on in case of a sudden wake-up-and-study nerd revelation in the middle of the night. The few times I got a chance to talk to her, we discussed Math, education systems in Pakistan and America, and places she could apply to for a PhD. No matter how much I tried, we never tread out of the realm of studies. Saad, who eventually shed his robe of shyness, turned out to be a very friendly kid. I sometimes made small talk with him but I had a feeling he was more interested in my ipod, my cell phone, my digital camera and wristwatch, than he was in me as a person.

But no matter how interesting the days were, what I would never forget about Pakistan were the nights. My second night in the country, Sitara took me to the rooftop where she had two easy chairs, a table in between with a stereo and journal on it. It looked like a place she regularly visited.

“Do you see those stars over there?” she said, pointing towards a cluster in the sky.

“Yeah,” I replied, looking in that direction.

“Can you see how they look like an arrow?” she asked.

“Errr…” I took my time trying to make out the arrow she was talking about, but I could see the stars making no shape whatsoever. “No, they just look like regular stars to me,” I replied, feeling stupid and sorry that I couldn’t see what she was trying to show me.

“Of course they are regular stars, silly!” she said and traced her hand across the sky, showing me how that regular cluster of stars looked like an arrow.

Thus began our long nights.

“I think I’m one of them,” Sitara began to explain, but seeing the confused expression on my face she added, “Sitara means ’star’ in Urdu.”

“Oh, so that’s what you meant at the airport! I thought you were this arrogant little wanna be movie star or something, trying impress her Umreeka-returned cousin,” I said, doing that Desi accent that I simply loved.

She smiled. “Yes, that’s what I meant. I’ve always believed I’m one of the stars. You know, when good people die they become stars and shed their light on the world forever. See those two bright stars over there? That one is my friend, Mohsin. He died in a car accident when we were ten. And that one beside him, that’s Hina. We were best friends for as long as I can remember. She died last year of cancer.”

Before I could interrupt her with a word of comfort, she continued. “I come up here and talk to them whenever I need to get away from everything. The stars, they’re so high up there, they can probably see every single person down here. You know, Waqas, when you’re feeling low and your problems seem to be the biggest in the world, think of yourself as a star and how very small you and your problems look to them, compared to the world as a whole. It’s like you’re this very small part of this very big world. It makes you think of other people with bigger problems than yours.”

“It’s best up in the mountains!” she said suddenly, totally changing the topic. That’s what I loved about her; she never lingered on the sad parts for too long. “I love our summer vacation up north ‘coz, 9000 feet above sea level, the sky is much clearer and closer. I don’t know why or how, but even the stars seem happier. They’re so close to each other, it’s like a tightly knit web of glitter above your head. It’s very beautiful. I sometimes sit by the window all night just looking at the sky. Ma doesn’t let me sit outside there, she says either the cold would get me or a wolf would…” She rambled on in a high squeaky voice, excited like a child when he’s showing off his new toy.

“Why didn’t you take up astrology as a major in college?” I asked. It would’ve been the best career option for her, considering the passion she had for the subject.

“I thought about it, I even took a few classes but then I realized I didn’t wanna know about the scientific figures and explanations. ‘Coz whenever science comes into something, emotion goes out of it,” she explained, “And I don’t want to think of stars as cold heavenly bodies, made out of dense particles of molecular clouds and blah.”

Trying to set her facts right, I said, “Just because you see them silver from down here, it doesn’t mean they’re cold. Temperatures of stars actually vary from 2000K—”

“See!” she said, cutting me in mid-sentence, probably irritated by this manly urge to be scientifically accurate. “Whatever Science comes in to, emotion goes out of!”

We would come up to the rooftop every night, after getting done with the day’s work, and sit there for hours, looking at the stars and talking. I was very fond of talking. Talking about everything and anything at all. More than intellectual discussions about Science and Technology, I savoured conversations about petty things, apparently meaningless, but representative of details that are often overlooked otherwise. Talking, I was told, was girlish and I was aware of my girlish tendencies so I often kept them to myself. But with Sitara, I never had to.

In that one short month, I learnt so much more about Pakistan than I could have imagined, not as much through experience than through these talks. In the little things Sitara told me about her life, from childhood to maturity, I could see intricate details of their culture, customs and lifestyle, most of which were very different from my own. Usually, we’d have contrasting points of view about things, which only gave us more food for talk.

It has been seven years since that spring of 2001. Today, Sitara is happily married and the mother of a beautiful baby girl. When I came back to the States after my first visit to Pakistan, I realized that my perception of my own life started to change, which encouraged me to think that maybe I was closer to finding answers to some of my questions, the very reason I had made the expedition to the Subcontinent anyway.

Those long nights under the starlit sky made me realize how important it was to make time for myself, to rest ever so often and actually think about where life was taking me. I looked around and found people drenched in the sweat of the day’s work, weighed down with bills that were ever increasing, children who became troublesome with each passing day, careers that needed more hard work, families and homes that screamed out for attention. Once caught in the raging storm of life, people struggled without respite, never stopping, even for a moment, to ponder where the wind was taking them. Sitara taught me how to take a break, to surround myself with just myself and nature, with myself and God, when I needed to take a break.

Through these seven years, Sitara and I have been in touch via email every now and then, but at night, when I sit on the balcony outside my bedroom window and stare at the stars, I need no email to know how she is. Now I understand. Sitara did not talk to the stars in the sky, she talked to herself, a star on earth. In the face of all the dilemmas she had ever faced, she did not, like a million other people I knew, complain about the fact that there were no answers, she actually made the sincere effort of finding them. When I made the honest effort of traveling 15,000 miles in search of what my life lacked, I found the key to the answers to my questions, lying with her. Sitara, by teaching me how to talk to stars, had not just given me the power to talk to myself but a way of talking to her, too. When I look at those shiny specks of light at night, I learn so much more about her life than she ever says in emails. Every so often, I look at the sky, asking questions, knowing that after ten hours, when the same stars shine outside Sitara’s window, I’ll have my answers.

Sitara was right; she is the star of my life.

And I’m a fan.

Sidra Nadeem
http://www.articlesbase.com/fiction-articles/shine-on-me–107190.html

As a staff writer at ‘Home Based Business’ we regularly answer questions submitted by our members one great topic is furnishing your home office.

For anyone who has decided to start up a home business, there are many factors to consider. One of these factors revolves around equipment. Depending upon your business choice, you may find that you will be required to buy a lot of material, or maybe none at all. Whatever business venture you decide upon, however, there is a very large chance that there will be a need for some very basic technology that will help you organize and run your business.

The best part about necessary equipment is that because of today’s fast-paced environment and societal demands, you might already have the majority of the following pieces of technology. Others you may decide to upgrade, but as long as you have sufficient tools for you business, you should be in good shape.

1.Personal Desktop Computer – This is the computer where you can handle most of your business while you are at home. A good personal computer will have plenty of hard drive space and RAM (random access memory). With the amount of information flow these days, which can include videos, pictures, and other large files, having a desktop computer with a large hard drive is a necessity. With the invention of the gigabyte, you should be able to fit a very large amount on your computer if the need arises. RAM is important because it will keep your computer from crashing if you are in a business that requires you to run a great deal of software. When considering a new computer, it is safer to overestimate your hard drive and RAM needs than to underestimate them.

2.Laptop Computer – While a laptop may not be a necessity in a home business, if you are required to travel and need to have information with you, a good laptop could make for a very helpful piece of equipment. Look into different laptops before making a purchase; you do not want your laptop to be too heavy and become a burden. Also consider offered warranties in the case that something unexpected should happen to your laptop. It is a part of your business and it is important to protect all aspects of that business.

3.Laser Printers – There are now a multitude of printers in the technological world. Color laser printers, black and white laser printers, printers that combine functions such as scanning, copying, and of course, printing. Finding a good printer can be difficult and expensive. Consider your specific needs before getting too excited about having the latest printer. If you will never need the scanning option, do not buy a printer that has one. At most you will probably need a printer that provides color as well as black and white. You may even find that to get the most out of a printer, you will have to buy two different printers, each specializing in a type of laser printing. Whatever your choice is, you will want a printer that is fast and provides you with top quality printing. A good printer will save you trips to the copy shop, cutting your time and expenses down in the long run.

4.High-Speed Internet Connection – This is a must in any situation. At the very least, you will need an Internet connection in order to communicate with clients and/or employees via email. A fast Internet connection means faster response times and fewer problems with dial-up modems and slower downloads. A high-speed connection allows more speed and ease when multi-tasking with different Internet sites, especially if they are complex and contain many pictures or videos. Even many online ads now use Flash that take much longer to download on slower connections. Be sure you look into a provider’s service quality and connection availabilities. Also, depending upon which high-speed connection you opt for, getting a good anti-virus software program will help defend your computer from any viruses or bugs you may pick up from being online.

5.Phone – You can choose any number of phones, but a mobile phone with great service is probably your best bet. A landline, while quite dependable, limits your phone usage to your home. In case of emergencies or guaranteeing better service, a cellular phone makes for a better choice. Depending upon how extensive your business is, a smartphone may be an even better choice. Smartphones are some of the newest and upcoming toys in the technological world, offering the combination of an advanced PDA and mobile phone. Many phones come with a large variety of options such as cameras, video abilities, and in the case of smartphones, the ability to organize presentations and use email. Choose the right phone for you, and with a smartphone, whether or not you want it to be Windows-based or something completely different. You need to be comfortable and able to understand your phone, so do not buy something with a lot of bells and whistles that you do not need or cannot understand.

Consider your business budget and how high-end you want or need your equipment to be. Avoid overspending on things you will not use. The newest smartphone may look cool but you need practicality and efficiency, not a shiny piece of metal that costs hundreds and does everything but help you with your business.

The staff at www.homebasedbusiness.com regularly updates the Home Based Business website with new information on the up and coming work at home jobs and other Internet based home businesses opportunities.

Bill Scott
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-business-articles/necessary-gear-for-any-homebased-business-122599.html

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