Software piracy in Bangladesh

Noting the present situation, Bangladesh is considered to be the software pirates' haven. All types of piracy can be found over here and the way pirated software are sold or redistributed it seems that the authorities are not doing much to curtail down the piracy rate in the country. Apart from a few big corporate organizations and educational institutions, uses of software in all aspects are pirated. It is a pity that the citizens of Bangladesh do not understand how badly the ICT industry in the country is affected due to software piracy. In Bangladesh, there is no need to go to an underground market in search for pirated software because they are virtually found everywhere. Starting from small shops in alleys to big shopping malls in front of the main roads, the country has a surplus of pirated software; no wonder people coming from abroad flock these shops for software.

People should realize that pirated software is hampering not only the ICT industry but also the efforts of the software developer. These developers spend days and nights creating software for our own benefit. But instead of getting a just reward for his creation, he finds his software being illegally copied and sold to millions of customers worldwide at a very cheap price. He might find some mental peace knowing that his software is being used by millions of customers worldwide but unfortunately he does not have any legal evidences to cherish it with. Furthermore, pirated software has enforced severe security measures and hence the costs of original software have such high prices. So if the present trend of software piracy continues then the developers will be forced to include more security measures thus making the prices of original software virtually unreachable. And the worst case scenario that could arise is that software piracy would frustrate the developers so much that they would stop developing software further and the technology oriented world will come to a virtual stand still.

Narrowing down to the context of Bangladesh, the effect of software piracy is even more severe. Being a third world country, Bangladesh will require a lot of effort to raise their economy and keep up the competitive trend with other countries in the global IT market. And with the present technological advances occurring all around the world it is very much important that we have the necessary resources to compete in the IT market. But if pirated software continues to dominate the IT markets within the country then the local programmers and developers does not stand a chance to show their potential. Bangladesh has a lot of talent in the software development and the recent results in programming competition such as the ACM Programming Competition are evidences of that. These programmers have all the skills to produce similar software such as Microsoft Word, Excel Adobe PhotoShop, etc.; as a matter of fact they have the skills to produce even better software. But due to pirated software these developers are not getting the chance to expose their talents. It is very important that our local ICT market be dominated by these local software developers and not by pirated software because a strong local market will provide the strong base Bangladesh needs to compete in the international arena.

In conclusion, the software industry lose a lot of money due to pirated software and no matter whatever legal maneuvers they adhere to it seems that the software pirates are always one step ahead of them. The only way to stop software piracy is to create awareness among all the people and these people should stop buying pirated software.

If general people do not buy pirated software then these pirates will have no earnings, hence forcing them to stop making pirated software. Local developers will get the chance to showcase their talents we could find a market filled with locally developed software. There have been successful awareness and prevention cases with AIDS, Smoking and Acid Throwing. Even though it's going to take in a lot of efforts to eradicate software piracy, but right now we need a start and we need to start with an aggressive awareness program and hope that such programs will put an end to software piracy in the country.

By Ziad Bin Hyder

Campus news

Sports gala of The City School International

The City School International held a very impressive 'Sports Gala' at the Cadet College Club, Gulshan 2, Dhaka. This celebration was dedicated to the promotion and sustenance of sports in the country. Students of all ages and races ( 7 different nationalities) and their parents participated in the event of make it lively and entertaining. Just the second Annual Function that The City School International has held, the Sports Gala superceded its predecessor in size and variety of events. The City School has an Annual Function every year and many other events to ensure that its pupils develop in a holistic manner and not only in the area of academics.

The Honorable Minister of Youth & Sports, Mr. Fazlur Rahman, honored the occasion with his presence as the Chief Guest and was impressed with the proceedings to such a degree as to award the school a sum of Tk 50,000 for the progression of its sports program in the future. The event, which took place last week, was host to a kaleidoscope of events. This sports event increased in uniqueness due to the thematic sports events performed by the pre-junior section, and this is a totally new concept in Bangladesh. Prejuniors performed a musical display of fairies and elves of the fairyland, and the sports events that followed were all related to the theme. The school percussion band of the young talents, an impressive karate show, a drill display of the senior students and the march past received admiration from the audience.

It seems regular for The City School Internatinal Annual Functions to involve its School Choir to entertain the audience, and this time was no different, as the choir performed its own renditions of several popular songs. Each of the classes also performed a fun activity which, while relating to sports, also showed their individualsim within a whole.

Members of the diplomatic corp., intellectuals and other learned persons that were present were highly impressed to see the students of a new school give such an outstanding performance.

The Sri Lankan Principal, Mrs. Mona Dharmawardhane, and a trained team of teachers give the caring and loving support to students that attend The City School International in academics as well as in all other activities. The City School International is a branch of an international network of schools, one of the largest educational institutions in Asia, which comprises of 136 schools in several countries, draws inspiration from and is governed under the able guidance of Dr. Mrs. Farzana Firoz (the Managing Director).

The City School International started its services only a short time ago and places stress in producing scholars that are educated in a holistic manner to face the future challenges of the world. There are field trips, sports programs, which include indoor and outdoor games, oriental dancing, swimming, martial arts, social service events and many other cocurricular activities to develop the young minds that attend the school.

Crucial exam tips

May and June seem to be the 'Examination' months. Everywhere I turn, I see students going through the same stress: constant revision, exam nightmares, and suddenly the 'carefree' normal life seems like a dream. However, in spite of all this revision and hard work, there are some students who face serious disasters. To avoid these, keep these tips and mind and Inshallah exams will be happy sailing for you!

* The night before the exam make sure that you have all the accessories ready. Don't wait for the last minute to check these though, you might find out that your compass is broken at 11:30 at night, and all the shops are closed!

* Have an early night. Avoid anything that might be stressful. Watch relaxing television shows, or play a relaxing game of monopoly with siblings.

It'll help if you have a good night's sleep and a clear mind will enable you to answer questions clearly.

* Don't forget to write down all your definitions and important formulas on a sheet of paper. Go through this every day till your exam, at night after all your study is over. This should be the last thing you go over, before you enter the exam hall.

* Don't panic. Sad, but true.many well-prepared candidates panic just before or during their exam, thus affecting their results drastically. Just before the exam, if you find that there's one bit of information you have not studied, don't panic. There's a probability that the question won't even come, and even if it does: it's destiny.

* Never try to memorize information at the last minute. Last minute studying NEVER helps, but it MAY always harm.

* Keep a careful track of time. Don't waste time on just one question. Even if you DO get it right, you will not be able to answer many questions. End result: you lose many many 'easy' marks.

* Don't waste time looking at your invigilator. Sad, but true. many candidates try their best to monitor their invigilator's movements in order to grasp a chance at cheating. DON'T do that: the risks aren't worth it.
Best of luck from my side! Ciao!

By Jennifer Ashraf

After the wind is gone

I want you to wake up
Like the dawn awakes in daylight's bliss
When the vigilant crow tries to sing
at the very first of daybreak
Nothing except shrill air comes out
After the luxurious sunset,
I want you to wake up and see the sky
has a bright moon with sprinkled stars
amazed, that we still like to see them
left alone, by the cruel sun
And I want you to wake up from ancient
nightmares, and smell amorous air flowing
between careless leaves
Let them caress your hairs, spread up
Over your skin, and whisper in your ears
That after all the wind is gone
Even the amazed celestial stars
And the twilight,
Precisely, I will be there to buy you
A powerful alarm clock with amplified speakers!

By Hassan Nabil