Govt mulling to allow import of used cars

KARACHI: The government is planning to allow the import of used vehicles for which a summary is being prepared to be presented to Economic Coordination Committee, Federal Minister for Industries and Production Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani told Geo News. According to the summary, used cars up to five years old would be allowed to be imported. The minister was of the view that the local manufactures should not have any objection on the decision because they link domestically manufactured cars with open market.

Iran army will cut off hand of Western bullies: Ahmadinejad

TEHRAN: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday that Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards and its army have the strength to "cut off the hands" of Western powers. "The power of the Revolutionary Guards and the army will cut off the hands of the arrogant and bullying powers," Ahmadinejad told a gathering of Guards' commanders, according to media. Hailing Iran's strength as "indestructible," the hardliner said the Guards were the symbol of Iran's resistance against the United States and other Western powers. "The world of arrogance (West) is weaker and it cannot hurt the Iranian nation," he said.

Pakistani film star Noor being harrassed by Husband while coming for Nadia Khan Show

YouTube 'Partner Grants' to Offer Money to Video Creators

With hopes of producing more high-quality content, YouTube is ready to provide financial support for some of its amateur auteurs. According to The New York Times, YouTube announced last Friday the creation of a $5 million Partner Grants program, which will provide some lucky YouTube users with stipends, ranging from a few thousand to a few hundred thousand dollars. So just how does a budding filmmaker get his or her hands on this cash? The details aren't clear, but YouTube is looking for work that appeals to both mainstream audiences and advertisers. If your video meets those requirements, YouTube will mysteriously "reach out" to you, and offer you the dough.

Will this program lead to 'David After Dentist 2: Root Canal's Revenge' or 'Charlie Bit Me... Harder'? That's more likely than the initiative leading to an Oscar winner. The site simply wants to help create content that will generate more hits, which, in turn, will attract bigger advertisers with more money and reach. That's fine by us -- as long as we get more videos of cute kids saying goofy stuff. [From: The New York Times]

Microsoft Looking For A Few Good iPad Users… To Study

Companies do all kinds of studies all the time for all sorts of reasons. Seeing as the iPad is currently one of the hottest devices on the market, it should be no surprise that companies want to know about how users are using it. Even if that company is Microsoft.

Yes, Apple’s rival has created a Facebook eventcalling for iPad owners to come to Microsoft’s Redmond campus between July 16 and July 21 for a study. Specifically, it’s Microsoft’s User Research group and they want people for chunks of two hours to apparently survey how they use the device. A follow-up note indicates that it’s student iPad users that Microsoft is specifically interested in here.

So what do they want to study about the iPad? Who knows. ZunePad? But as one commenter on the Facebook posting notes, “This gonna be a hard study, since most of the people who bought ipad are apple fanboys and apple regular customers their point of view is, um, damaged.”

Or maybe this is the secret to Microsoft’s second inception.

A “Microsoft gratuity item” is being offered in exchange for participating. Oh goody. Here’s to hoping it’s a Courier.

Here’s the description:

Microsoft User Research is looking for iPad owners for an upcoming study to get feedback. This study will be two hours long and will take place on the Microsoft Redmond campus with a number of dates and times between Friday, July 16th and Wednesday, July 21st.

In appreciation for your time, each participant will be offered a Microsoft gratuity item.

If you are interested, please respond to the questions below to uccoord@microsoft.com with the subject line “iPad”:

• Name/Age
• Phone Number
• Job Title/Company
• Are you employed full time?
-OR-
• Are you a student?
• Do you own an iPad?